The Dark Warriors
by Embanerous
Summary: The Light Warriors heard legends of the Dark Warriors who once saved the world, and eventually met them. But how did the Dark Warriors grow into their roles? What are the good qualities of the Dark? What is the bad side of the Light?
1. Prologue

Prologue: The Light and the Darkness

Temple of Water. 11 years ago

In the beginning there was nothing. There was nothing in the Void from whence the universe eventually was born. And then...there was Light, and its enemy Darkness came into being at the same instant.

The Priestess Iko thought about this teaching again and again as she stared out of the Water Temple's front steps and towards the lake. A giant figure, carrying a litter on its back, was approaching the temple slowly as if the figure's eyes were closed. They probably were. The priestess was deliberately avoiding turning around and looking at the object that she was supposed to revere and protect. The Crystal of Water shone like the sun as it sparkled upon its pedestal.

The Light from the crystal had once been pleasant and comforting, but it had begun to fluctuate recently. More and more often Iko found that she had no choice but to head for the caves nearby to get away from the Light the Crystal made. It was not lost on her that she hid from the Light and escaped to the Darkness provided by the caves.

_Could Darkness really be that bad? _Iko wouldoften catch herself wondering, but she never voiced these thoughts out loud anymore. The priests and other priestesses did not seem to have the doubts that she had, or if they did they had never told her so when she used to bring it up. The only person she had heard of that had thoughts like hers had been a well known and respected scholar by the name of Owen. He had announced one day that he had observed that the Cetra had abused the Light to the point that the Light would destroy everything if left unchecked. He had gone on to say that the only hope may be to begin using the power of Darkness.

But he had been arrested later that day for 'seditious libel' and attempting to create a panic. There was just something about it that rang wrong to her and she couldn't help but think that they had just been trying to get rid of him. When she had brought up Owen with the priests, she had been assured he had been arrested for libel and that they wouldn't repeat what he said. She only wished she could believe that.

That was why Iko believed she couldn't go to Stark or Lily for help. Until she had something besides doubts to go on, they'd just tell her she was going through a crisis of faith, or perhaps have her arrested like Owen. Again and again she would shake her head and dispel the notion that her friends would betray her like that, but she hadn't trusted them enough to tell them what she was really thinking. And that just made her feel even worse.

The figure that was coming towards her had begun to shield its eyes as it began to walk up the steps of the temple. The blinding light had begun to fade however, and soon the figure, Stark, was able to climb the steps without having to shield his eyes.

"I found kid." Stark said as he began to take off the litter as carefully and as gently as he could, but it wasn't very easy for the large man to be gentle or careful. Stark was way too large to be completely human, and his features definitely suggested that he had some troll blood in him. He was easily over ten feet tall and he was at least five feet long. His hair had a definite light green hue and his skin had a gray tint and his entire body was covered in muscle, rather than fat despite how wide he was. He was a little slow as were most half-monsters, and he never talked about his parents. But Iko knew that it could just be a coincidence and never asked him if he was half-monster.

For some reason Stark got upset when everyone tried to do things for him, and so Iko waited patiently for Stark to remove the litter on his own. Finally, Stark removed the litter and presented an infant to Iko. The child had fallen asleep, its thumb in its mouth. The short hair on top of the head had just begun to grow long enough to cover the head, which was tilted comfortably to the side. The child looked peaceful and serene in the darkness and it could not have been more than 4 months old at the most.

"Thank you Stark. You did a good job." She said in the sweetest tone that she could as Stark nodded as he handed her the baby…but she saw him blink and his smile drop a little. She had never understood why he didn't like getting thanked.

Stark finally shook his head slowly and ran a hand through his hair as he pointed at the litter. "Why Crystal want kid?"

Iko's blood chilled as Stark's words rang through her soul. Stark had just asked what Iko should have realized from the start. At first Iko looked at the child in appreciation for the beauty of a new born life...but what she should have realized sooner was that this child had been summoned by the Crystal. What could the crystal possibly want with a new born child?

'**Priestess. Come forth.'**

Iko froze as she heard the voice of the crystal in her head once more. She had heard the crystal speak on several occasions, but it had never sounded so urgent...or strained. The light from the crystal had grown dark. What was going on? Was the crystal becoming tainted with Darkness?

'**The child. Bring it before me.'**

Fear crawled down her spine as the priestess held the infant's litter protectively against herself. Could she trust the Crystal when its Light had lost its brilliance?

'**I know that you doubt me,' **the Crystal said as he tried to soothe her. '**But I know too that you have doubt in the Light and have seen the good that can be provided by Darkness in our everyday world. It is why I entrusted you and no other with this task.'**

Iko approached the crystal hesitantly. The crystal had talked to her and charged her with silence, that was true. But what if the darkness in this Crystal was evil just as the priests had always taught at mass? What if the Darkness had known her thoughts and was now taking advantage of her weakness?

'**I must act, before I am lost to myself.' **The crystal explained as it began to grow bright again. '**Place the child before me. Before it is too late.'**

But rather than comply with the crystals wishes, Iko began to back away slowly.

'**Priestess, you must not leave! I must mark this child now, while my Dark side can still affect this world through me!**' The Crystal shouted, but this only caused Iko to switch from backing away slowly to running.

Her flight was stopped before it had begun when she found that Stark had blocked the exit. His arms, that were as thick as tree branches and that could tear these stone walls down, were stretched out to either side preventing her escape. She looked up at the giant and saw him look down at her in confusion.

"Crystal want help." Stark said as if it was as simple as night and day. "Why you not help?"

She stood uncertainly for a few moments, looking between the crystal, and Stark. Could the Crystals plea be genuine? Could it really need a child? What if the crystal really did need help...?

She could get past Stark if she had to. She could cast Mini or Toad on him and then she could simply run past him and escape. But she didn't. Instead she made the hardest choice of her life. It was a leap of faith into a chasm of Darkness, when her whole life she had been taught that Darkness was evil and that salvation could be attained only from the use of Light. She turned around and held the child as the Crystal began to grow darker as it spoke to the infant.

'**Welcome, child from the Land of Darkness.' **The Crystal of Water said to both the child and to Stark and Iko's minds.** 'I wish that I could have called all four of you here tonight, or when you were older as we intended, but it is too late. Already the Light is going out of control, and time is becoming constant. Of the Warriors, we decided that only you could be chosen to imbue with the power of Darkness at an early age, Justice.'**

As Iko held the child, a dark miasma began to surround the infant to Iko's surprise. But it was not unpleasant. She could still see the child and she could hear it breathing regularly. If anything it had begun to look healthier! After a few moments the miasma dissipated.

'**I did everything I could do and withheld only what I must for the other three Warriors. I have given you two gifts: I have blessed you with the only spirit of the dead that I could impart to you and still finish the second gift. The second gift will bring that land to a place where the Light will not reach it. Where you and the other four shall be able to grow into the Dark Warriors you must someday become. Now, Priestess, Stark,**' The Crystal said focusing its attention on her again. '**You must send this child and the other three I indicated to the Kingdom of Sasune. And they must be at the outskirts within two days.**'

* * *

Iko could not leave her duties behind, and she sent Stark to make his way with the four children to the southwest continent.

Two days later, the continent that held the kingdoms of Sasune and Argus, the Tower that Owen was constructing before his incarceration with the help of his son, and even the races of Dwarves and Gnomes disappeared beneath the oceans waves.

* * *

FINAL FANTASY III

The Dark Warriors

(Before we go any further, I have beaten Final Fantasy III DS and I know the full story of the Dark Warriors as it appeared in the game. But that was only the end result.

Who were they before they were the Dark Warriors? How did they grow into the role that they played at the end? What are the good qualities of Darkness? What was the Bad side of the Light? That's just a part of the story I'm going to explore, taking a few creative liberties of course.)


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Adoption

The wooden walls of the headmistress's office were adorned with small glowing orb like crystals that produced enough light to encompass the entire room. The papers were in two different stacks labeled 'IN', and 'OUT', and the only paper on her desk was the application of the man sitting before her. Mistress Mallory herself was wrinkled and gray haired and she was wearing a simple brown robe that had the bronze emblem of her position on it. Her eyes were brown, but they appeared to be faded because of use and age. However, it didn't stop her from having a gaze like a hawk.

The man that was being interviewed by the headmistress was sitting on the other side of the desk, and he found her to be a bit of a control freak. She had probably developed the need for order because she spent so much time around children and maintaining them, but he didn't think that gave her the right to try to control him as well.

"So Mr...Enigma, if you were to adopt a child today, what do you think he or she would do for you?" Mistress Mallory asked as she stared at him in judgment.

"Well...could I meet the children first by any chance?" The gentlemen asked after a moment, trying to buy time.

The headmistress looked at him for a long moment, and then nodded her head. "Yes, I think that will help you realize what you're getting yourself into. Let me get the keys." She said as she opened the bottom right drawer. After a moment she pulled out a key ring that held about 14 different keys and picked one and held it at the ready. "Follow me."

Mr. Enigma was a man who looked as if he was in his late thirties and was best described as a man that enjoyed his food. He was not in very good shape, but his clothes were of good make and gave people the correct impression that he was financially sound. His wife was gone now and she had never given him an heir, and he was alone with his fortune. He had the feeling that Mistress Mallory thought that this was not a sufficient reason to want to adopt a child...and he was beginning to think she may be right.

The two adults soon left her office and followed the glowing orbs of light to a back room. "You wanted the children old enough to look after themselves correct?"

The gentlemen grimaced at the thought of having to take care of a newborn child. "I have two maids, but I'm sure that they would prefer if I didn't make them handle diaper duty." He said without thinking, and then immediately wished that he hadn't.

The headmistress cocked an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. She led him to a passage and then opened the door to an indoor gymnasium. There were six kids between the ages of eight and thirteen in the room and quite a few of them were taking advantage of the toys, games, and activities available to them. One was tuning a violin, while two of the girls sat next to each other and giggled while one of the older looking boys was using a pocket knife to whittle. The youngest child was climbing a rope ladder as an older girl was watching him to make sure he wouldn't fall.

Each child was introduced one after the other. Kyle was twelve years old, born around the time their island was plunged into darkness, which was certainly an unfortunate time to be born. He was wearing a simple white shirt and brown pants. Apparently he was a young musician that could play the violin beautifully and artistically, but Mr. Enigma told the headmistress he was kind of tone-deaf and he felt someone else would adopt Kyle one day who had more of an appreciation for music than the gentlemen himself did.

Jeff had the rugged look and manner of a kid who had been used to the outdoors, which wasn't surprising because he had lived for a time in the town of Gyshal. He was twelve years old and wearing a dirty green vest with no shirt and brown pants. Apparently, before his father drowned, Jeff had been taught how to hunt, fish, and trap. He also had an accent that the gentlemen had the funny feeling that Jeff made worse on purpose. But the truth was the gentleman wasn't looking for a kid that was already raised to be something else. He informed the headmistress he was kind of more in the market for someone he could raise as his own .

The next candidate was Jaeger, a twelve year old girl who carried an air about her that made it feel as if she was judging Mr. Enigma and sizing him up as well. Her red hair was cut short and she was wearing bright brown pants and a simple pink shirt that both had a few grass stains. Studying the way the other kids looked at her and Jeff he had the feeling they looked at these two as the leaders. After a little consideration, Enigma came to the conclusion he did not want to raise a leader. He certainly didn't need a power struggle in his own home and would prefer to guide a young mind that was more open. When he told this to the headmistress she became rather upset with him. Apparently she did not think he would find an independent child anywhere in the world that would not question what they were told.

Elizabeth and Rachel were two adorable little girls that seemed to be twins and they were both wearing simple red skirts and pink shirts. They were actually more than a year apart, but after a little thought he came to the conclusion he would do a poor job of raising a girl. The headmistress just put began to rub her head with her fingers.

Jimmy was the smallest boy he had ever met and looked as if he shouldn't be in the same room as this age group, but apparently he had just turned 8. He was wearing simple brown pants and a simple white shirt that was covered in stains ranging from grass to tomato sauce. Jimmy wore a bright smile and the gentlemen recalled Jimmy had been climbing the ladder when he first came in. Jimmy probably loved to climb trees and run around all day laughing and having fun. He would probably break everything in the house and draw on the walls and destroy all of Mr. Enigma's furniture. That would make the maids have less time to complain and tell him he needed to get another wife, and the constant hints that they were available. As he daydreamed all of this in his head, he could picture Jimmy already playing with the neighbors' dog and driving the crazy old couple next door even more insane. Enigma didn't realize it, but he was smiling as he concluded that Jimmy must be a healthy, energetic, and loud little boy that would certainly break up the monotony his life had entered after losing his wife.

In the end, Mr. Enigma discovered that he could easily answer all of Mistress Mallory's questions satisfactorily and that within a week he would probably have a new son, which seemed like a huge surprise to the headmistress that she found herself agreeing to this. As Mr. Enigma left the orphanage and stepped out into the light cast by the Tower of Owen, he replaced his hat and unconsciously skipped happily on his way to his airship.

Mr. Enigma was never even aware that he had not been given the chance of meeting one of the children in that age group, another twelve year old boy, but even if he had his decision would have been the same.

* * *

Stark's hair had become slightly less green in the time since the continent had submerged, but other than that the years had been kind to him. He was making his way through the forest in between him and Canaan when a sharp cracking noise caused him to jump. Stark's gaze immediately went towards the watery sky. Could it have already begun?

As Stark sweated and searched the horizon he waited for the cracking sound to begin again, but he was met with silence. It took him a few moments, but he slowly looked around to get his bearings and to discover the source of the noise. He couldn't see anything that would have caused the disturbance, but it slowly occured to him that it could not have been what he had feared. That would have been louder and he would have already seen the red cracks that he had been told would appear.

Stark resumed his journey towards the orphanage at a brisk run, the folliage of the forest crushed beneath every giant step he took. He had lost too much time climbing through the mountains instead of going through the blocked path. He couldn't let down the Crystal, the world, or those children who he had been with for that very short time eleven years ago.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Orphans

After Mr. Enigma was gone Mistress Mallory went back into the gymnasium and cleared her throat and the kids slowly stopped what they were doing and came over. They knew it couldn't be anything good when she did that. "What did I tell you about knives, Jeff?" She said to the eldest boy in the group, who shrugged his shoulders and put it away.

"Knives ain't for chil'ren." Jeff said in an accent that the headmistress was certain he was making worse just to spite her attempts to teach him the proper way to speak. "I ain't a 'chil'ren.' I already killed a deer, which means I'm a man."

"Aren't. Not 'Ain't.' 'I am not'. Not 'I ain't'. There is no such word as 'Ain't'." Mistress Mallory said firmly, she had decided to take his education into a proper speaker slowly. "I already said you could keep your father's knife. I said it wasn't for children, and that means you are not to take it out in front of the children. If I catch you using it around any of the others again, I will confiscate it. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yep." Jeff said as he raised a single eyebrow and crossed his arms defiantly.

"'Yes ma'am'." Mistress Mallory said even more firmly while she considered washing his mouth out with soap to get the point across. "Not 'yep'." After this she turned towards Jimmy. "You'll be happy to know that you've made quite the impression on Mr. Enigma. He was so impressed with you that he finally figured out why he was here."

"What I do?" Jimmy asked in surprise as he leapt up, his usual smile growing even broader.

"You were just you Jimmy, and it worked." Kyle said as he patted Jimmy on the shoulder in congratulations.

"Gonna miss ya squirt!" Jeff said as he grabbed Jimmy in a head lock and began to rub his fist in circles on Jimmy's head.

"OW!" Jimmy cried in protest and Jeff released him while laughing. Jeff's mirth lasted only until Mistress Mallory boxed Jeff's ear. Jeff protested in pain for a moment as the other children, including Jimmy, got a laugh at his expense.

"Ow. I was jus' playin'." Jeff protested as he stopped rubbing his ear. The headmistress snorted in contentment and then turned to walk out of the room.

"Mistress?" Jaeger asked, stepping forwards to the surprise of the headmistress. "It's great that Jimmy got adopted...I mean...," she said as she looked at Jimmy, who looked confused about why Jaeger wasn't happy for him. "I'll miss him...but..." By then the headmistress saw where this was probably going. Not more than a minute ago they had learned Jimmy would have to leave behind everyone at the orphanage for a man he'd just met.

"Don't worry about Mr. Enigma. He is a well respected gentleman from the Kingdom of Argus. I had my doubts about him too, but I feel that he'll be a good parent. You should be happy that Jimmy will be going to a better home," The headmistress explained as if she had memorized the speech to the point it had lost all of its meaning. "Besides, he'll still be here for at least a few more days. You have plenty of time to say good-bye." And with that she turned to leave again.

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to know why you didn't let Nick out of his room to meet Mr. Enigma." Jaeger said stubbornly as she planted her hands on her hips.

Mistress Mallory stopped dead in her tracks. She had completely forgotten that she had placed Nick in time out.

"I hadn't thought about him," She said as she took out her key ring and selected the key to Nick's room. "I suppose I should let him out."

No matter how much a child misbehaved, Mistress Mallory was not the type of person that would have kept a child from being able to find a good home. Already the thought that she had denied Nick the same chance every child deserved haunted her. Her only comfort was the fact that the gentlemen would not have picked any of the children except for Jimmy...then again Nick and Jimmy had the most in common with one another...

She finally arrived at Nick's room and she unlocked and opened it to find that Nick's small room had become a disaster area and her mouth dropped in shock and disgust. Nick had made a fort out of his mattress and pillows on one side of the room, and the green and white sheets were sprayed about on the floor and Nick appeared to have placed several of Jeff's carved monsters and toys on the sheets. Nick himself was waving around one of the carvings as if he was fighting off something invisible. The only things still orderly in Nick's room were his small collection of books that were still on his shelf.

"DIE!" Nick cried in what was obviously supposed to be an evil sounding voice, but was just a lower pitch of Nick's usually high pitched squell. "DON'T WANNA!" Nick responded in his own voice, only louder than usual, as he threw the piece onto the ground and then started jumping on it.

As Nick destroyed Jeff's toy, Mistress Mallory entered the room, which caused Nick to gasp.

"No! You fool!" Nick bellowed in his game voice. "You can't come in here! The Hexonians might get away!"

Nick suddenly rushed past all the toys and pushed Mistress Mallory out of the room forcibly and much more roughly than a person her age should be handled. Nick slammed the door and she heard the distinct sound of the door lock. The headmistress just stared for a few moments at the door and then shook her head. The boy had turned time-out into a game he didn't want interrupted.

Ordinarily she would have gone in there and demanded that he clean his room that instant, but not this time. As the headmistress turned around to check on the younger children, she was unaware that she didn't feel as guilty about not giving Nick the opportunity to meet Mr. Enigma anymore. She had the feeling he could be just as happy if he lived in a cave in the wilderness as if he were to live in the Crystal Palace itself.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Sun-less World.

Later that day the headmistress smiled as she carefully placed the application and her letter of recommendation into an envelope. Before she had put the letter inside she had made sure to make the folds crisp, clear, and clean. She licked the tip of her finger and put it against the envelopes sticky side and then closed it neatly. Afterwords she cleaned her hand and inspected it. Finally, she nodded to herself happily. Perfect.

The headmistress checked herself in the mirror before she headed for the door just to make sure she was presentable and then left. She shut and locked the front door and then turned in the direction of the mayor of Canaan's office, Hallet. Hallet had been a sage a long time ago and had retired his mage robes for the office of the mayor. It was a good twelve minute walk from here to the mayor's, but she would take her time and not strain herself.

Truthfully though, the orphanage had been built at the edge of town and closer to the woods than the center of town and the mayor's office. More than once she wished that Canaan was reaping the benefits of the airships, ground wheels, or paddle boats. But the truth of the matter was that she'd even settle for a chocobo.

Canaan was just a small city that the orphanage called home, and it was a simple little community that was just far enough from the mountains up north that it still received the beneficial light from the Tower of Owen without its light being overshadowed.

The Tower stood like a beacon over fifty miles away from the city, its shining light was their sun that allowed crops to grow and people to see. Without the benefits of the Tower their continent would have died long ago.

High above even the Tower of Owen, there was a wall of water. It was not a flat wall, but rather a spherical shape that enveloped the entire continent and kept it shrouded in darkness. The sun didn't penetrate the wall of water and life on this continent would not have been possible without the Tower's light.

There were a few benefits and downsides to the light, but Canaan lived in a place that was neither too close nor too far away and thus reaped more benefits than negatives. But one of the downsides was that it was impossible to tell time without a watch or a grandfather clock. Fortunately the city had donated the orphanage another clock after Nick and Jeff had broken the first one 2 years ago, and it had helped her keep the children on the same schedule. Up by 7 A.M, and in bed for 9 P.M. It never occurred to her that this practice might have been the cause of the first time they broke the clock, but now she kept it locked in her room and safe from the children's playful hands.

As she continued down her way, she noted that all the children were playing a game of some kind in the fields and immediately her breath caught. But then she noticed that Ashley was there watching them and the headmistress heaved a sigh of relief. Ashley was an experienced fighter and enforcer of the law here in Canaan, and she had defended the orphanage single-handedly on more than one occasion. The children would be safe as long as Ashley was around. The headmistress continued to walk down the road confident that today would be a good day; not that it was ever night anymore.

* * *

Kyle was not the tallest boy on the field at the time, but at least he wasn't the shortest. Jimmy was almost three and a half feet tall which was short even for an eight year old. Kyle had the misfortune of being only four feet two inches. Jeff was about four feet ten inches, and Jaeger was just an inch taller.

Rachel, Elizabeth, and Nick were all almost or as tall as Jeff, but they were sitting out this game of 'Tackle', which was a game that Kyle was sure Jeff had just made up. Basically the point of the game was to tackle the person that had last tackled someone. When the game started the person that was 'it' would be in the center ring area that was marked by sticks. The others were on the outer ring, which is where the person that was 'it' would have to reach to be safe.

Jeff would murder him if he tried to go anywhere near his direction. Jaeger wouldn't hurt him, but then he'd have to hear how he got tackled by a girl and he didn't want to hear the other kids making fun of him. It didn't help that both of them were much faster than him and that meant running for a direction in between Jeff and Jimmy, or Jaeger and Jimmy would not be wise. So that left running straight at Jimmy, who anybody could pile through.

Kyle had decided on this course of action when suddenly someone poked him on the shoulder. Kyle turned around and looked up to find both Jaeger and Jeff staring down at him menacingly.

"If you go at Jimmy you had better let him win," Jaeger whispered. "I don't want to see you make him cry before he has to leave."

"And if you don't let Jimmy win, I'm gonna smash your nose in," Jeff said much more harshly as he hit his fist into his hand in his normal, but still very thick accent. "In other words, if you win, I beat you," Kyle stared up at Jeff and then turned towards Jaeger for a way out of this.

But Jaeger for once did not rescue Kyle from Jeff. Instead she just looked up at Kyle firmly and said, "I just might let him," Well, Kyle thought, that left him with but one option:

Quitting.

Giving up was a perfectly valid and manly thing to do under the circumstances. Kyle tried to tell himself this over and over, but he had no luck of convincing even himself.

It was then that a scream pierced the air as the children heard Rachel scream. Turning around Kyle heard Ashley yell for the children to run inside the house as she drew out her short-sword and one of the glowing crystals of light. It was then that Kyle saw what had caused Rachel to scream. A giant troll with green hair and gray skin had emerged from the forest.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Rising Tension.

Jeff had never seen a troll before in his life. He had seen werewolves, gnomes, and even gone hunting for a few of the weaker monsters back home with his first adoptive father. But he had never seen anything that big in his life, and it was not something he was going to argue with Ashley about running from.

Kyle bolted immediately away from the monster, and in the wrong direction of the house. Jeff ran after him and caught him by the arm. "This way, you deaf fool!" He shouted as he dragged and pushed Kyle towards Jaeger who caught Kyle and was now running away with him towards the house. Jeff turned towards Jimmy, and found that the kid was looking up at the troll in wonder and awe.

Jeff ran to the kid with the intention of picking him up when a high pitched voice shouted out across the field.

"Hi!" Nick's voice screeched across the field. "What's your name?"

Jeff turned around to stare in shock as he saw that Nick hadn't run away from the troll that had appeared behind Nick and the girls. Instead Nick had stood up and was now smiling and waving at the creature happily.

Jeff noticed that Ashley was already running towards Nick to pull him away, but the troll raised up his hands placatingly and said, "No time. Crystal say Djinn and Judge make flood. Me here to save kids."

Ashley threw Nick out of the way and ran up to the troll swinging her short sword and cutting the monsters' hand. It might have been a large cut to a man, but it was probably a scratch to the giant that pulled his arm away.

The creature reacted slowly as it looked at the cut on its hand, and apparently it took awhile for it to comprehend that Ashley did not mean to give up the children that were even now running towards the orphanage. Jeff looked towards the home and noticed that the children couldn't get inside. Mistress Mallory must have locked the door before she left, and Jeff could see Kyle trying to break it down in vain.

Jeff heard a loud crash and turned and saw that the giant had slapped Ashley into the ground with his hand. Jeff heard someone gasp nearby, and he had to agree. There was no way Ashley's ribs weren't broken.

It was then that the giant figure looked upwards for a moment, and then it looked back down and then grabbed Nick and put the child on its shoulder as it stood up. "Don't let go. It hurt."

"WOAHHH!" Nick shouted happily and apparently completely oblivious to the fact Trolls were known to eat children, or that Ashley was probably dead.

Then the monster ran for the door and all of the other children, and Jeff was thrown out of inaction.

"If ya want a kid, take me, ya troll!" Jeff shouted loudly, slipping in the accent he spoke to the Headmistress with, causing the monster to stop in its tracks. "I got meat on ma bones at leas'!"

The monster seemed to flinch at the accusation, but it also seemed to be considering Jeff's proposal of starting with him, when suddenly there was a loud distant cracking sound. It was louder than thunder, but it also gave the impression that its source was distant. The monster and everyone's gaze immediately went up towards the watery sky and they saw thin red cracks, cracks that made a spider web design, were spreading quickly across the sky directly to the north above the mountains. Jeff had time to stare at it for a few moments as he saw more cracks occur, followed by the loud cracking noises a few seconds later.

Suddenly the sky seemed to crack like glass and water began to flow inside the dome like an unstoppable waterfall.

Jeff stood motionless, despite the fact that the noise this time was enough to burst an ear-drum Jeff didn't even move to cover his ears, but the giant figure moved quickly and picked up first Jeff, and then Jimmy and added them to his shoulder. "Hold on! I save you!"

Jeff didn't argue this time as he clung to the tunic of the monster for his life. The monster ran quickly and every step threatened to throw him and the others off. Jeff reached out with one hand and wrapped his arm around Jimmy's and then grabbed back onto the monster. Nick on the other hand had one hand in the air that was waving around happily.

"Do you think the headmistress will let me keep a troll in the house!?" Nick asked Jeff as he clung to the monsters shirt.

"Shut it idgit!" Jeff shouted as the monster reached the other children that were caught between the flood and itself. Most of them had stopped running, and the troll-like man picked up and carried on his back the other children. Jaeger and Elizabeth were each holding onto one of the younger kids but even after they were all aboard there was one missing.

"Where's Rachel?" Elizabeth shouted suddenly as the kids and the troll searched around. She was nowhere to be seen. "We can't leave her here!"

The troll glanced around and tried to find her, while everyone was shouting for her as the water continued to flow down and through the mountains.

"Aren't we forgetting grumpy?" Nick asked as he pointed at Ashley's body that had been knocked to the ground by the creature, and everyone froze as they stared at her.

The troll took one last look around for Rachel, and then he broke out into a run with the eleven children on his back and he picked up Ashley in his hands and then ran towards Dragon Peak. But there was no way they'd make it in time. Dragon's Peak was simply too far away.

Jeff turned north towards the approaching water and saw that it had not yet passed over the last of the mountains. Jeff began to think that there was still some hope that the deluge would stop and flow slower through the mountains, but that hope was dashed as he saw walls of water flow like an open torrent through the mountain passes in giant waves that merged together. As Jeff watched he knew that the torrent would put all previous tidal waves and floods to shame. The mountains were far way, and the water would recede in strength in the miles between them and here, but already Jeff could tell that there would be nothing left of Canaan, maybe nothing left of their entire continent if the waterfall continued.

Just as Jeff realized that they had no hope of reaching safety; suddenly the monster stopped as the crystal in Ashley's hand began to glow brighter.

"Crystal?" The creature asked in surprise, but of all the people present he was possibly the least surprised to hear one of the divine crystals speaking through Ashley's smaller version.

'**A piece of me. Enough that I can teleport all of you if you get high enough.**' High enough? But Dragon's Peak was too far away.

"What if we just climb a tree, would that be high enough?!" Kyle asked, which gave Jeff an idea.

"The ol' Red Woods!" Jeff said pointing towards the forest. It was close enough, they might be able to make it if the giant was fast enough-

The giant _was_ fast apparently, as it proved so when it suddenly threw itself into the woods at a frightening pace. Nick was thrown back almost immediately and it was Kyle that ended up catching him. Nick held on as best he could and righted himself while being flung around. The children kept their heads down as they began to get cuts and scrapes from just holding on. Kyle began to tremble uncontrollably, and he was not the only one.

The Red Woods were far away, but at this speed they might make it and they didn't have any other choice. Jeff didn't know how long they had to hold on, but as he clung to the giant it felt like every second was an eternity. Jeff could swear he could hear the sound of rushing water coming to bear down on them and he held his breath waiting for the torrent to arrive.

When the creature finally arrived at the first Red Wood it could find it immediately began to climb it, flying higher and higher up the tree first thirty feet, then sixty, then a hundred. Jeff looked to the north and noticed the waterfall had stopped, but as they got higher into the tree Jeff saw the tidal wave had already reached the forest and it was crushing everything in it. The trees were pulled from their roots instantly in some cases and were swept away. Even if the torrent had not been taller than the redwood, the sheer force was going to topple the giant tree just as it was doing to the others right now.

The troll reached the top of the tree and had no where else to go. All they could see was a tidal wave that was going to destroy their village and kill everyone they knew. A bright glow surrounded them, and Jeff felt the sense as if he was going somewhere else soon, but also that he was not going anywhere.

'**You must get higher! I can almost take you!**'

"We can't get any higher!" Kyle yelled at the crystal, and then screamed as the troll began to brush the children off of his shoulders and into his hand that held Ashley. The kids landed roughly and piled on top of one another, holding on to each other to not fall off. It was only a second later that Jeff felt the troll bend down and then leap into the air. As they soared into the air the troll first lowered his hand and then his powerful throw sent all of the children flying even higher into the sky. Jeff turned his head around and watched helplessly as several children vanished, and he couldn't even see others that must have already left. But the last thing he saw was the troll falling back down to the Earth, the only one of them that looked as if he was not going anywhere but down.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Shock

Four children found themselves inside of a bright chamber with no sign of the other kids in sight, but Ashley was laying on the ground unconscious in the center of the domed cave. The ground beneath them was carved out of blue stone of some kind and there was a glowing object at the top of a staircase.

Kyle looked around and saw that Jeff and Nick had been the first to get to their feet. Nick seemed to be looking around in confusion, while Jeff was shouting something. Kyle couldn't exactly tell what he was shouting.

"Elizabeth?!" Jeff shouted again, but Kyle wasn't sure at the moment exactly what an Elizabeth was... "Jimmy?!" _Jimmy?_ Kyle thought to himself as he realized that Jeff was shouting for the other children. "Micah, Thomas, Sarah?!" Shouting didn't help.

They were probably all dead, Kyle thought to himself as he stayed in his position on the ground. He felt a hand on his shoulder shake him, but he didn't react.

"Kyle?" Jaeger asked as she looked down into his eyes, but Kyle chose not to respond. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Kyle said automatically, robotically.

Jaeger for some reason began to look worried and she called for Jeff. Jeff ran over and then felt his head for some odd reason, and then forced Kyle to lay back down and elevated his legs.

"What's wrong with him?" Jaeger asked as she felt his head and looked down at Kyle in concern. "Where are we?"

"I figure its shock," Jeff said slowly as he rubbed his forehead and looked at Jaeger. "...its somethin' we should...its something we should probably all...let's just...lie down and let the blood get back to our heads. We can figure out where we're at later on," As Jeff started to lay down he called out: "Nick, lay down and rest for a minute."

Jaeger didn't make any complaints as the two joined Kyle on the floor. It was becoming slowly easier to think and remember things now. Kyle knew that the version of events he was remembering was inaccurate, but at the moment he didn't really care and they went something along the lines of:

The morning had started like every other morning in the orphanage. Mistress Mallory had woken them up for 7 A.M, and they had gone out to play a game of tackle. Kyle was sure that he'd won that game, and that after his victory he had been attacked by a slobbering troll that had come to eat him. He had taken action and bravely tried to break the door down to save all of the other children. But the beast had managed to defeat them and forced the children up a tree to escape a tidal wave, and then he had appeared here.

The tidal wave was the most terrifying thing Kyle had ever seen in his life, and it had single handedly destroyed everything he knew. The orphanage, his violin, his friends, the town, Mistress Mallory, even Mayor Hallet would have been...suddenly Kyle sat upright and gasped.

"The mayor!" Kyle exclaimed happily. He was so relieved he could barely put his thoughts into words. He just kept repeating 'The mayor! The mayor!'

"What?" Jaeger asked sitting up suddenly. She was looking healthier as was Jeff who grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him a little. "What about 'em? What about the mayer?" Jeff asked.

"The mayor was there! Mayor Hallet! He knows how to teleport people! He probably saved everyone in town!"


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Sometimes you should keep an eye on the quiet ones. But you should always keep your eyes on the loud obnoxious morons.

Nick had only vaguely been paying attention to the others as they all laid down to rest or treat for shock or whatever they were doing. He was much more interested in exploring this new place. On the sides there was a long black drop in every direction, which he had dropped a small gil into to see if it would make a noise when it hit the bottom. But he hadn't heard anything at all.

There was a cave system on the opposite side of the stair case. Nick considered wandering down there and seeing what was there, but there was the shiny thing up on the top of the staircase to inspect too. This provided Nick with a conundrum.

Nick could easily climb the stairs first to inspect the shiny object, or he could go down and inspect the caves which were bound to be full of wonders he couldn't even imagine yet. Besides, it would give Nick an excuse to make a torch.

Nick had an almost insatiable curiosity and he often felt the urge to explore and examine everything, and the only thing that came close to his curiosity in his mind was his love of fire. Nick could sit and watch a torch or a lantern burn down to nothingness for hours and not move a muscle. Being near fire in some way made Nick feel...complete.

The headmistress had once called Nick a pyro-something or other, but Nick, at least, didn't think that was right. He simply loved fire cause he loved fire; there was no need to go making it sound all complicated with some big medical word. At his heart, Nick was a relatively simple creature and didn't like making things that were simple overly complex. At least, that was how Nick liked to describe himself.

In the end, Nick's choice was made for him. Mistress Mallory had long ago banned him from using matches, flint and steel, and had even banned him from rubbing sticks together. Since Nick didn't have any of these objects at the moment his choice was clear: Go steal the shiny thing so he could go out into the caves to find two sticks that he could start a fire with so that he could explore the caves. After exploring the caves, Nick could come back here and inspect the shiny thing.

In Nick's mind, this made simple and perfect sense.

* * *

Jaeger blinked when she heard Kyle's revelation that the townsfolk, if not the town, had been spared because of their mayor. Hallet was a sage of the Cetra race, a long lived and magically powerful race that had begun to bring the world into a new age of prosperity and science. If anyone in the world could have saved the townspeople of Canaan, then Hallet could have.

"If the troll hadn't kidnapped us, then we'd have been able to escape with everyone else." Kyle said bitterly, but Jaeger grimaced because she thought that this was unfair. It hadn't seemed like the man was a monster to her, and he had saved their lives. And she had seen trolls in books before and while the man had kind of resembled them, the book had been clear trolls couldn't learn how to talk. Besides, it wasn't the man's fault that he didn't know about Hallet.

"That guy couldn't have been a troll." Jaeger explained, adding her reasons one after another. "Besides, he was only trying to hel-" Jaeger protested but Kyle overrode her.

"Okay, so maybe the guy wasn't a troll." Kyle admitted. "But so what? Even if that's true we wouldn't be...wherever the hell here is if he hadn't done anything! We'd have all made it to the mayor's office if he hadn't-"

Kyle's rant was cut off suddenly when the shimmering light from above flashed brightly, causing the children to cover their eyes and turn away.

"Uhhh...guys, I think I made the shiny thingy angry." Nick said from the top of the stairs.

A shriek filled the chamber as a bright figure with leathery wings flew out of the light and began to circle around the cave. The golden bat-like creature circled around the ceiling several times before the monster flipped upside down and clung to the ceiling.

It turned its head towards the children and its blue eyes focused on them. Its leathery golden-yellow wings were attached to its arm and folded into place. The creature had hands in a way, but at the end of the hand were claws rather than fingers, and the same was true of its feet which had dug into the ceiling rocks.

"Be you pilgrims or thieves?" It asked in a quiet, but shrill, voice that echoed in the chamber.

"Another monster?!" Kyle practically cried from his hiding spot behind Jeff and Jaeger. Jeff had pulled out his pocket knife and stood in a defensive stance. Jaeger had immediately set herself behind Jeff, the only person with any means to defend themselves.

The creature snarled in disgust. "I am no monster. I am Firt, the guardian of the Crystal of the Wind and a protector of the Light." The light from the object had become more tolerable and now the bat appeared to be the brightest object in the entire cave. The guardian looked at Jeff, Ashley, Nick, and Kyle in turn and finally stopped on Jaeger. "You are not pilgrims. No, I sense Darkness in all but two of you. I will not allow you to defile this place or steal the Crystal! Let the Light consume you, thieves!


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Golden Bat, Firt

Jeff should have been watching Nick. Nick might have been twelve years old, but he acted like a five year old. The creature had released its footing and was now preparing to attack.

"Wait a second!" Kyle shouted from his position on the floor. "Hold on, we're not creatures of Darkness!"

"Even a speck of Darkness on a soul will corrupt it, only the two among you that are pure shall be allowed to leave this hallowed ground!" And with that the creature entered into a dive-bomb towards Jeff.

Jeff waited with his knife at the ready, but he wasn't ready for the giant bat's true size to be revealed. The bat creature was at least seven feet tall, but no matter how big the creature was, Jeff was responsible for Kyle and Jaeger. He was the oldest and strongest, and that meant that he had to protect them. But as the creature finished its dive-bomb it used its momentum and delivered a blow that sent Jeff sprawling across the floor as his world exploded into pain. Jeff tried to stand back up, but his limbs shook and gave out underneath him.

Jeff watched helplessly as the creature then lifted its leg with the intent to crush Jaeger and Kyle in one blow, but Jeff saw Nick racing down the stairs, just before the creature stomped on Kyle and Jaeger, Nick had jumped onto the creatures leg from behind. Nick grabbed hold with his arms and then wrapped his ow legs around the creature, and then Nick bit down as hard as he could on the back of the creatures' leg.

The bat began to shriek in annoyance at the pain as it tried to beat at Nick with its claws, but its arms did not bend that well and its legs were too long. The bat tried throwing its leg back and forth in order to throw Nick off of him, but Nick refused to budge. Meanwhile, Jaeger had grabbed Kyle and had run towards Jeff.

"We have to get out of here!" Kyle said as he began to tug on Jeff's shoulder, but Jeff shrugged him off and tried to stand up.

"I ain't gonna leave a slime-brain to die in a man's place." Jeff protested immediately as he dropped his pocket knife and hobbled towards Ashley's unconscious form. Her short-sword was probably lost forever in the ocean, but she had a dagger in another sheathe on the other side of her leg.

Jeff bent down and unsheathed the simple dagger and inspected it. The dagger had been kept sharp and Jeff knew that if he could just drive it into the heart or brain of the creature that they should be fine.

Suddenly a large projectile rammed into him and crushed him, and the dagger was sent flying away. Jeff couldn't tell where it went, but he had figured out what had rammed into him. Nick.

The bat creature approached slowly and angrily as its feet stomped on the ground and its claws dug into the floor slightly; Jeff could hear its sharp teeth grinding against each other in the creatures frustration. It stood over them for a moment and then it went in for the kill, only to be stopped a second later as it screamed in pain. Jeff looked around for the cause, and saw that Kyle had stabbed the creature in the foot with Jeff's own pocket knife!

Jeff finally forced himself to sit up, and he got a look at the state Nick was in. Nick was covered in bruises and there were several cuts and scratches over his body. He didn't appear to be conscious, but he wasn't going to die...at least Jeff didn't think he would.

Suddenly Jeff became aware that there was an armored figure next to him. Jeff turned towards the figure and realized that his eyes were only playing tricks on him. It was just Jaeger holding the dagger out to him.

"Here!" Jaeger said and as he looked at her he saw her in the dark armor again. It wasn't that she was actually wearing that black armor. It was just there, in spirit. "Take it!"

Jeff stared at her without blinking, and then he heard the ear-splitting screech of the bat as it yanked the pocket knife from its foot finally. It tossed the blade aside and looked down at the children, and then Jeff saw it look at Jaeger in revulsion. "Warrior of the Dark!" It said, or at least that's what Jeff thought it said.

Jeff looked back at Jaeger, and then he pushed the dagger back towards her. "You're gonna have to do it. I...can't anymore." He lied. Jaeger looked at him in confusion, as if she had no idea what she could do. "Do it!"

The bat lept for Jaeger and the other children and Jaeger stood up and swiped at the creature, sending blood flying from its maw. The creature lifted its claw to bat at Jaeger and send her flying, when all of a sudden darkness began to surround her on every side. It came out of every pore of her body and surrounded her like a protective cocoon. Jeff couldn't see anything inside of the cocoon, and the bat waited for the darkness to dissipate and its foe to reveal itself.

Jaeger stood as she had been standing, except now her clothes had transformed. Her pink shirt she had been wearing had turned into black armor, and the pants and shoes she wore had become greaves and armored boots. The helmet he had seen her wear had not appeared.

The bat like creature looked at his opponent and then at the other orphans as its ears began to twitch. "Only three of you have darkness in your souls, but if there are four children of the same age in one place then that could mean the Gulgan prophecy has come to pass. Any of you might still be the other three warriors, and so I will not allow any of you to leave here alive. Prepare yourselves to join the Great Spirit!"

The creature backed away a few steps and then began to flap its wings over and over again. The wind began to push at Jeff harder and harder and he had to raise his hands to guard his face as debris and dust began to fill the air.

The more the creature flapped its wings the stronger the wind got, after a few seconds of this Jeff saw his pocket knife flying around in circles in the room. The guardian of the Wind Crystal was going to create a tornado!

Jeff looked at Jaeger and thought that she looked pale now after the darkness had surrounded her, but she still looked up at the monster in her new armor and then she set the dagger to the left and prepared it. Darkness began to seep out of the blade, and Jeff got the strange impression that a spirit of the past was flowing through Jaeger and moving her body for her in the way that the spirit had moved in its own life.

The bats eyes widened as it began to flap its wings harder and harder as Jeff began to feel his body being pushed away by the storm when suddenly Jaeger stepped forwards and a dark blast of energy shot from the blade as she slashed the air. Firt's voice shrieked at ear-bleeding levels as its body began to flash and it slowly disappeared from sight.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Aftermath of the Awakening

Jaeger had not known what she was doing when she had attacked the creature. There had just been some part of her that had told her exactly what she had to do, and then she did it. But ever since the darkness had enveloped her skin she had felt stronger, and at the same time she had felt sick and weaker than she had been before. She dropped to a single knee and dropped the dagger to the floor as she looked at the armor that covered her body.

The armor only covered the parts of her body that had already been clothed. She had been wearing a shirt, pants, and shoes and they had been changed accordingly. But her arms were mostly bare and she didn't have any sort of helmet.

"Jaeger...you've...you've turned into a Dark Knight..." Kyle stammered in a soft whisper.

Jaeger just stared down at what had once been a pink shirt and was now black armor and began to try to take off the armor as quickly as she could, as soon as she could figure out how to do that, she would throw it away and never _ever_ leave the light of the Tower again. She was not a Warrior of the Darkness. This couldn't be happening to her. It couldn't be.

'**Warrior of the Dark.**' A voice beckoned in her head and Jaeger cringed on the inside. The voice was the same that had spoken through Ashley's crystal and it appeared to be coming from up the stairs. How Jaeger could tell that a voice in her head was coming from any direction at all was a question that did not even occur to her. It just felt like it came from that direction, and that it was the Crystal of the Wind. '**Do not be afraid of what has happened to you. Come before me when you are ready, and I shall explain everything that I can.**'

She stopped trying to take off the armor as she slowly stood up and looked between Jeff, Kyle, and Nick. Jeff was looking at her blankly and she couldn't tell what he was thinking, but Kyle flinched the moment she looked at him and he backed away as if she had caught a flu. Nick on the other hand had regained consciousness and was already smiling as he looked up at the three of them.

"Did the bat thing die?" Nick asked in his usual happy manner, but his voice was weaker than it usually was. Jaeger couldn't answer him, and Jeff was the one who finally nodded. Nick sighed in content and then sat up. "Alrighty then, that means I can finally go steal the shiny thing and explore the cave." As soon as Nick announced this he got to his feet and began to stumble slowly up the steps towards the Crystal.

* * *

_Steal the shiny thing?_ Kyle thought as he felt his throat constrict and a vein in his head throb. _Steal the SHINY THING!? STEAL THE SHINY THING?!_

"_YOU TRIED TO STEAL THE CRYSTAL OF THE WIND?!" _Kyle shouted at the exact same time Jaeger and Jeff yelled something similar. He didn't quite catch what they said themselves, but it was much the same thing.

"The what?" Nick asked as he turned around and looked at all three of them confused. "Sorry, you all kind of said different things all at once."

It was all clear to Kyle now. The sacred Guardian of the Crystal of the Wind had attacked and tried to kill him because Nick had tried to steal the Crystal, and because Jaeger had been taken by the Darkness.

Kyle didn't know what to think about Jaeger yet. She had been his friend, and his rescuer, his whole life and she had saved his life from the Guardian. But becoming a Dark Knight... He didn't know what to think about Jaeger anymore. Too much had happened all at once today for him to feel sure of anything...

Well almost anything. What Nick had done had nearly gotten them all killed, and _that_ was something he could ground himself on. It was something that Kyle had some experience with because Nick, due to his oblivious nature, would often create situations that caused trouble for everyone else. Most of the time the trouble was not life threatening true, such as the pillow and mattress fort in his room, but Kyle still remembered the time Nick brought baby werewolves home.

"The Crystal of the Wind, one of the four pillars of Light on which our world exists." Jaeger explained with crossed arms as she explained what Nick should have heard every week in church for the past 12 years of his life, but had apparently missed the memo. "Without the Crystal our world would have never come into existence."

"Oh that." Nick said as he nodded along in understanding, and Kyle thought perhaps he had gotten the wrong idea. Then Nick pointed his thumb back at the Crystal. "What's that got to do with the shiny thing?"

"The shiny thing is the Crystal, ya 'tard!" Jeff yelled as Kyle hit his own head in frustration.

"Really?" Nick asked in surprise as he scratched the side of his head. "How do you know that?"

"**Because we**...we..." Kyle began, but he was forced to stop as he groped for an answer. "Ummm...we..." Kyle had just realized he did not have an answer for Nick's question at all. Even when the Crystal had spoken through Ashley's Crystal he had just..._known_ that it was the Crystal of the Wind. Kyle looked between the others and found that they looked as clueless as he felt.

"We just knew." Jeff said as he turned towards Nick and shrugged.

* * *

Jeff didn't understand what was going on any better than the others, but he tried to keep his face smooth. Jaeger was a girl and she had never had to kill anything in her life before, and it didn't help that she had been transformed into something she reviled in the process. He had to look calm for her and Kyle's sakes.

Technically, Jaeger was more of a man than Jeff was now. She had stepped up and saved them all from the Guardian, which was much more impressive than killing a deer or some werewolf, but Jeff's adoptive parrain had told him that most women and some men just weren't made to grow up that fast. His parrain had gone on to say that growing up was something that you prepared to do before you did it, or else when it came you just stared around like a lost puppy searching for its master to comfort it and tell it what to do. Jeff had thought he understood that last part, but he had only just realized what his parrain had really meant while Jeff watched Jaeger stare back down at her armor with glazed eyes.

Nick had taken her mind off of what had happened but now that the conversation had died, Jaeger was probably thinking about what had happened again.

"Well," Jeff said as he searched for something to say and the right way to say it. "It doesn't matter how we know its the crystal. What, uh, matters is it'll tell us what's going on." Jeff finished lamely. He wished that he had something more forceful that he could say, but this was not exactly his forte.

Kyle nodded as he began to climb the stairs, but Jaeger didn't seem to have heard him. He tapped her on the shoulder of her armor and she jumped away from him.

"Don't touch me!" She screamed as she slapped his hand away.

"Ow! What's wrong with ya, woman?" Jeff asked as he rubbed his hand in pain. Jaeger hadn't hurt it badly but the slap had stung harder than it should have.

"Just-just back away and don't touch me!" Jaeger screeched as she waved her hand wildly to ward him off. "You might get it too!"

"Get it?" Jeff asked in confusion as he lowered his hand. Jaeger didn't have the pox or anything, but now that he looked at her she did look sick. But that made sense considering everything that had happened to them today. "Get wha' exactly?"

"She's talking about the Darkness." Kyle explained from near the top of the stairs. He stared at the ground and spoke as if he understood exactly what was going through Jaeger's mind. "She's afraid that if you touch her, you'll get it too."

Jaeger didn't look at Kyle or Jeff, but she just nodded her head as she fell to her knees and began to cry softly. "It came out of my skin. I can feel it inside me even now. You can't touch me."

Jeff couldn't think of anything to say. He stood there motionless for a time and so did Kyle and Nick, who both looked upset in very different ways. Kyle looked as if he felt helpless. Jeff knew what that was like because he wanted to help Jaeger too, but he didn't know how either. Nick on the other hand looked as if he wanted to kill something, and as Nick turned towards the crystal Jeff realized that Nick had apparently chosen his target.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Confronting Doubt and Fear

"Hey, crystal!" Nick shouted as he began to run up the last steps and confronted the floating light blue-green object. "You're the one in charge of this darkness and light stuff right?! Why aren't you helping Jaeger?!"

Jeff ran up the stairs after Nick, but as he did so his intentions changed from tackling Nick to agreeing with him. If anybody should be doing something to help Jaeger right now, if anything _could_ help her, it was the freaking Crystal.

'**I'm sorry, but events were not intended to happen this quickly.' **The crystal explained. **'We were hoping that Jaeger, and the rest of the Dark Warriors, would have been allowed to grow into their roles. Events forced my hand and I realized that I could wait no longer and summoned you here. There are worse things to tell her, and these are things she is not ready to hear.**'

"Alright," Kyle said bitterly after hearing that they would have to hear even worse news in a short while. "But can you at least tell me why you didn't call off your bodyguard?"

'**You do not understand the current situation.**' The crystal protested. '**I would have called off my Guardian, if I had been sane enough at the time to do so.**'

Jeff's jaw clenched and his eyes bulged as if he had been kicked in the stomach and was trying to not crumple over. The fact that the divine crystal had just admitted that it could have called off its guardian was one thing, but it was another to hear that the Crystal upon which so much faith was placed had lost its sanity for any length of time.

"Okay," Nick said as he raised a single finger and turned towards the others. "It is officially not my fault we were nearly killed by a rabid bat." Nick said as he jerked his thumb towards the crystal. "It's the stupid shiny things fault."

"You probably shouldn't call it that." Kyle said without conviction as he turned his back on it and walked down the stairs towards Jaeger, who had not moved.

"As far as I'm concerned its name is officially 'Stupid Shiny Thingy.'" Nick said firmly.

"You probably shouldn't call it that either." Kyle replied.

"You're right I guess. It isn't a stupid shiny thingy. It's a stupid shiny rock." Nick said as he shrugged. "So its name from this moment forth shall be: 'Stupid Shiny Rock.'"

"That's not what I...whatever." Kyle replied.

"All right, fine. It's just a Stupid Rock then," Nick said before turning back to the crystal. "Anyways, I didn't catch the part where you told me 'Oh yes Nick, I will be solving all of Jaeger's problems right now so that you don't break me in half.'"

'**Would that I could solve all of her problems,' **The Crystal responded sadly as it floated up and down in the air both powerfully and impotently at the same time.** 'But sadly I cannot solve her current dilemma. It is something that she must come to terms with in herself.**'

"Apparently," Jeff said as he cracked his knuckles and began to drawl his words even worse than he usually did. "The Stupid Shinin' Rock didn' catch th' part where we's gonna break it in half, Nick. I fer' one really thin' we oughta stress that poin'."

'**You could break me in half, but it would not solve your problems and you mistook my meaning. Bring Jaeger before me and I will do what I can to counsel her.**'

Nick and Jeff shared a look, and it was obvious that both of them completely agreed for once. The 'divine' Crystal of the Wind was in reality nothing but a 'Stupid Shiny Rock'.

Kyle at the bottom of the stairs had not been able to convince Jaeger to allow him to touch her, or he had not overcome his fear of her yet. Jeff assumed this because Kyle was sitting a few feet away and he kept reaching out a hand towards her and pulling it back. Jaeger herself had gone into the fetal position while sitting on her feet and keeping her head buried beneath her arms, but Jeff couldn't hear her crying anymore at least even though she was visibly shaking.

"Jaeger..." Jeff said softly as he kneeled down next to her. "I need ya ta stan' up now an' be a big girl." Jaeger didn't move and she just continued to tremble.

* * *

Jaeger had always thought that she was stronger than all the other girls her age, and that she was somehow different than the others. She had always enjoyed playing with the boys and running around in the mud and dirt rather than playing with Rachel or Elizabeth, and this had always been something of a sour point to Mistress Mallory. She had always insisted that girls should wear pink and play with dolls. Jaeger didn't mind wearing pink, but what she minded was being told she should wear something else if she was going to play in the dirt when pink was the only thing the headmistress would buy her.

But now she had seen and felt the force that had made her feel stronger all these years and it made her sick. Jaeger could feel the Darkness inside of her, and it felt alive and comfortable to her in some ways. It was like a cool blanket was wrapped around her that would keep her cool and safe from the Tower of Owen's occasional solar bursts. But it also made her want to throw up. It made her feel ill physically as well as mentally and spiritually. She had never wanted anything to do with Darkness, and now somehow it had found its way inside of her and she wanted to tear it out, but she didn't know how.

If she couldn't get rid of the Darkness inside of her no one would ever be able to touch her again. No one would ever adopt a child of Darkness, and she would be forced to go out and live in the wilderness far away from people. She would have to live alone for the rest of her life. The more she thought about this the harder she cried, and the harder she tried to stop crying the more she cried, until she had run out of tears and then she just continued to sob.

She wanted someone to hold her, someone that would tell her that everything would be all right as she cried into their shoulder, someone that would make everything better somehow. She wanted Ashley to get up and to walk over here and be her mother, if only for a minute. She wanted Jeff or Kyle, or even Nick, to just hold her. But she couldn't do that to anyone ever again. In her mind, she knew that she would have to be alone for the rest of her life.

And that is when she felt a very sharp pain on her head.

* * *

Jeff had watched Jaeger for a few moments helplessly as he tried to think of what he should do, when he saw Nick kneel beside Jaeger on the other side. Jeff stared at Nick, who seemed to have calmed down and looked more serious than Jeff had ever seen him before. Nick just looked at Jaeger for a few moments in silence, before Nick raised his hand quickly and then brought it down and slapped the back of Jaeger's head as hard as he could.

"OW!" Jaeger cried as Jeff and Kyle's jaws dropped. Jaeger grabbed the back of her head and then she turned and punched Nick as hard as she could in his shoulder, and just kept punching him over and over and over again as Nick fell back to the floor and laughed.

Nick's laugh didn't sound like a human laugh. It sounded more like some sort of high pitched bird call, and it sounded so odd that it usually caused others to laugh as well. When Nick laughed everyone in the room found it hard to keep from joining in usually, but right now only Nick was laughing as Jaeger pounced on top of him and began to punch him over and over again.

As Jeff watched he realized that Nick had expected this to happen, but he couldn't tell why Nick had thought it was a good idea. _Jaeger needed a hug more than she needed a smack to the back of her head, ya slime-brain, _Jeff thought to himself, but his own revelations meaning was lost on him for the moment.

Jeff watched for a few moments as Jaeger seemed to become less violent and more tired as she beat on the idiot underneath her. It was as if she was spending all of her aggression on Nick, who was laughing uncontrollably and raised no hand to defend himself as his left eye began to turn black and his face began to swell.

Finally, Jeff did realize what Nick's plan had been. Jeff walked forward slowly and grabbed Jaeger's arms and held her still. She struggled against him for a minute and she was about to break free when she gave up and went limp in his grip.

Nick, his face a starting to swell, smiled up at Jaeger. "See? We can touch you."

Jaeger's head came up in the sudden realization that Jeff was touching her, and then she broke free of his grip and crawled away from the two boys.

"Look." Jeff said as he reached out his hand, trying to look as calm and as compassionate as he could. "Ain't no Darkness on eitheh of us." Mallory would have thrown a fit over his 'double negative', but Jeff would have enjoyed that and he actually was hoping the Crystal would complain. To be honest he was surprised he had been able to keep this up as long as he had before reverting to proper speech, but as long as the Crystal was within hearing range Jeff would continue to speak in a drawl. Jaeger looked at his hand suspiciously and then at Nick slowly.

"How do you know that it won't spread later?" She asked finally.

Nick chuckled as he sat up. "Honestly, I wouldn't care." Nick said as shrugged his shoulders with a grin. "If it does, then at least you wouldn't be the only one!" Nick laughed from his position on the floor as he slowly sat up. He seemed oblivious to the pain his face must have been in right now.

Jaeger walked up to him slowly, and then she raised her hand as hard as she could and hit him upside his head.

"OW! That hurt!" Nick laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "What was that for?" Jeff had no idea why Nick would complain about a whap upside the head and not the beating he received two minutes ago. Jaeger said something to Nick softly as she grabbed him and hugged him as hard as she could. Jeff and Kyle just stared as Nick squirmed in Jaeger's embrace; at last Nick looked like he was uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.

"Um. . .help?" Nick asked the others, but Jeff was not about to get involved because he had finally realized how right he had been earlier about Jaeger needing a hug. Then again she probably would not have let anyone hold her for very long if Nick hadn't done what he did first.

Jaeger soon released Nick, and then she ran over to Jeff and squeezed him to the point he had trouble breathing and it didn't help that she was wearing armor now. Jeff had not thought that she would also embrace him too, after all he had only stopped her from hitting Nick and hadn't really earned a hug from his point of view. Then again, this was for her sake more than his, he reminded himself.

When she let him go she glanced over at Kyle slowly.

Kyle looked uncertainly between Jeff and Nick, who had both emerged unscathed from their encounter with Jaeger (not counting the beating), and then at Jaeger who was looking at him as if she was unsure if she would be allowed to approach him. The question placed before the two, Jeff observed, was if Kyle would turn his back on her or not. Jeff made it a point to stare very menacingly at Kyle. If he hurt her right now when she was like this...

But Kyle didn't even notice Jeff, or if he did his eyes didn't betray any fear. Kyle just stared at Jaeger and after a long tense moment he extended his hands out to her weakly, and that was all Jaeger apparently needed as she ran at and tackled Kyle, who screamed as they fell to the stone floor.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Awakening of a Warrior.

Kyle and Jaeger had barely ten seconds after they hit the floor to embrace one another and then a voice entered the heads of the four children.

'**Everyone come forth, I have much to tell you, and little time to explain.'**

Jeff and Nick grimaced unhappily as they gazed up the stair case towards the crystal. Jeff suddenly recalled that the crystal had promised to help Jaeger.

"Jaeger, th' crystal-" Jeff began, before Nick interrupted him.

"The Stupid Rock." Nick corrected Jeff, but he ignored Nick and continued on after a moment.

"Th' crystal said it'd do everyt'ing it could ta help ya." Jeff finished, but Jaeger had already leapt to her feet before he had even gotten half way through. She stared first at Jeff, and then up the stairs towards the Crystal, and then she quickly sprinted up the stairs yelling for everyone to come on.

"It did?" Nick asked in confusion as he began to poke at his bruised face. "When did that happen?"

Jeff knew that the crystal hadn't exactly said it would help yet, and it had just said it would counsel her. But Jeff was counting on Nick and Kyle to help convince the crystal to their point of view.

The three boys climbed the stairs after her and Jeff noted that Jaeger looked expectant and happy, despite the fact that her eyes were still red rimmed and that she kept having to wipe her nose on her hand. When Jeff reached the top he reached down into a pocket and offered her a small cloth that he used to wipe his knife down after whittling. Jeff remembered his knife suddenly, and thought about going back down to make sure that it hadn't fallen off the sides, but he would wait until after he heard what the crystal had to say. Besides, his body still ached from the fight with the Guardian and he didn't want to have to climb back up the steps again.

Jaeger was looking up at the crystal with hope shining in her eyes, but she was the only one. Nick had crossed his arms and was looking off to the left and Kyle was staring at his feet as he kicked at imaginary rocks. Jeff looked up at the floating gem defiantly and dared it to ask him to worship it.

'**Welcome, Warriors from the Land of Darkness.**' The Crystal said to their minds, and Jeff didn't even have to glance at Jaeger to know that she had winced. '**I am sorry that I had to call you long before you were ready for this burden, but I had little choice now. The flood that destroyed your homes was nothing compared to what will happen if you do not begin the journey immediately.'**

"I'm sorry, what does this have to do with helping Jaeger?" Nick asked suddenly. "I seem to have missed the part where you help her."

"Be quiet Nick." Jaeger said from the corner of her mouth, and Nick shrugged his shoulders as he continued to stare at the wall.

'**It is true, there is a lot to explain to you, and I have little time to explain it in. Jaeger,' **the crystal said to her, but allowed the rest of the orphans to hear the conversation.** 'You are not from this realm. You were born in the Land of Darkness and came here to be raised into a warrior that would save the world from the Light and to bring the Darkness back to its rightful place.' **

Silence fell in the chamber as everyone tried to absorb what the crystal had just said in their own way. Jeff was stuck on the idea about having to save the world from the Light, but as Jeff looked at the others he could tell they had other thoughts. Kyle was looking at Jaeger as if she was some sort of alien, and Nick was busy looking around for something, (probably something to break the crystal with). Jaeger on the other hand, looked as if her last hope had flown away.

"No..." Jaeger whispered as she fell to her knees, her hopes dashed before her eyes.

Jeff turned towards the crystal and extended a single finger towards the crystal before going over to help Jaeger himself, his parrain had told him he shouldn't ever extend that finger on its own unless he really wanted that person or thing to just go jump off a bridge and die. Until today he had never really felt like that.

"Can't you do something about the darkness at least?!" Kyle demanded as he knelt beside Jaeger and tried to calm her down.

'**It is a part of who she is, and though I could remove the power of Darkness from her, I could never remove the darkness itself from her.' **The crystal explained.** 'She is a being of pure darkness, and so is Nick.**'

The two other boys and Jaeger turned towards Nick, who finally glanced up at the Crystal. "Wait what?"

'**Nick, you and Jaeger are two of the Warriors of the Darkness.**' Suddenly a soft black miasma began to spread over Nick's body. '**I did not want to change you without the other warriors present, but you have been sheltered your whole life and could not survive without my help. Awaken, Warrior of the Dark.**'

Nick looked about at the Darkness that began to spread over his body, but he didn't fight it. Jeff considered running over there and pulling Nick out from the miasma, but he had the feeling that it wouldn't do any good.

"No!" Jaeger cried as she got up and ran at Nick and tried to pull at where his arms must have been. "Leave him alone!"

Nick suddenly came out of the miasma easily causing Jaeger and Nick to suddenly fall on top of each other, but he was not wearing his own clothes anymore. Instead he was wearing a red cape that had white triangles at the bottom and a red shirt with squares in the center. The shirt had a collar and it had white outlines and a white chocker. He was wearing black pants now which were rolled up at the end and white on the inside. His shoes had transformed into boots with a golden buckle at the top. He was not wearing the white gloves and the hat with the feather was missing, but Nick had unmistakably become a Red Mage. The bruises and cuts on his face and body were gone, and he looked healthier than he had been, but at the same time he also looked as pale as Jaeger now. Jeff didn't know what Nick would do or how he would react, but he should have known that Nick would have reacted exactly the way he did.

"Hey, when did I get a cape?" Nick asked as he was getting up. It took Nick a moment to look over himself. "When did Mistress Mallory start buying cool clothes?"

"Tha's not what ya were wearin' a minute ago, ya 'tard!" Jeff said through gritted teeth. "Yer clothes changed, jus' like Jaeger's!"

Nick looked at Jeff in confusion and then turned towards Jaeger, who was looking at Nick in defeat, and his mouth dropped as he gasped in delight. "That armor's cool!" Jeff sighed and put his hand up to his head and began to massage it. Nick hadn't noticed. Nick never noticed, and it was giving Jeff a headache, out of the corner of Jeff's eyes he saw Jaeger's hand slowly clench in anger.

"Wait a second." Kyle said suddenly as he turned towards the crystal. "Your guardian said that there were four warriors! That's not...that's not us is it?"

'**No.**' The crystal stated simply. '**Though you have Darkness in you,** y**ou were not meant to be involved in this, Bard. and your fate treads a different path. Jaeger and Nick are the only Dark Warriors in this room, and the fate of the world will rest on their shoulders.**

'**The Light has been abused by the Cetra race for too long and the balance between the Light and the Dark has shifted in favor of the Light. But what they don't know is that an unnatural imbalance caused between Light and Darkness will destroy both the Land of Darkness and Light and there shall be nothing left in existence. Even now, above the dome of water you perceive as your sky, the Land has been covered in Light and fire. Time has grown constant, and two of my brother crystals are almost completely under the sway of the Light.**

'**You have been told that the dome in which your continent has been trapped is a thin layer of water that was an attack by the Darkness to cut this land off from the Light. That is only half true. This land was sealed under the water with the power of Darkness from the Water Crystal, back when it still had enough to accomplish this task. The Crystal had called you forth Jaeger and it had gifted you with the spirit of a Dark Knight and with the miracle that would protect this continent from the Light that now ravages the lands above. The dome is your only protection from the Light for now, and, if it breaks, the Light and the water will come crashing inside and destroy everything.**

'**You saw what happened earlier today, when the water came crashing into the dome and destroyed your homes. It was an attempt made by a Cetra Judge by the name of Jeremas to break the barrier and reach the outside world. He had no idea there would be that much water in the barrier, because he does not realize that the island sank beneath the waves. As you know, he and everyone else believes that the waters rose and he has been trying to break through for years.**

'**Now he has found and released a Djinn, and with its power he hopes to break the dome and expose the world to the sun again, but what he will do is kill everyone and destroy our only hope. Dark Warriors, it is up to you to stop them, by force if necessary.'**


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Crystal of the Wind

Jaeger had listened to the crystal explain what was happening with growing dread and shock. The idea that the world was going to stop existing because the Light was out of control and that the only hope was Darkness went against everything she had thought was true. She listened to what was expected of her and Nick in horror; the Crystal couldn't really expect her and Nick to do all of this on their own?

Jaeger didn't want to be a Dark Knight, and she didn't want to be a Warrior of the Darkness, but right now that wasn't important. She would do it if she absolutely had to...but Nick...

"Crystal, I don't care about myself anymore, but you can't ask Nick to do this!" Jaeger pleaded with the crystal after its speech. "He can't even take care of himself!"

'**I know more about that than even you do, Justice,**' The Crystal said in a tone that Jaeger felt sounded like resignation, '**It is not Nick's fault that he is the way that he is, because of the four spirits that were born to the flesh, he was the only one that formed incorrectly at birth and because of this he has developed a form of dementia.**'

Jaeger's mouth dropped as she stared at the crystal in horror. She had always thought that Nick had problems yes, but she had always thought that he'd grow out of them. He had some kind of dementia? Was the Crystal saying that Nick's brain was malformed?

"You knew he was demented and you still chose him?" Kyle asked softly. Jaeger turned towards him to find that he looked as shocked as she felt. She looked towards Jeff, wondering if he had had any clue that he had been calling someone with an actual mental problem a 'tard for years. Jeff was staring at Nick already however, quietly and with an emotionless face. Nick didn't seem to be paying attention at all...

'**Chose? This was not a matter that we took so lightly that we chose random children at birth. The Dark Crystals had a direct hand in your creations, and Nick was the first to be formed. We learned where we went wrong from him and did not repeat the same mistakes.'**

The entire room was silent for a long time, finally Kyle cleared his throat and asked one last question.

"If you learned what you did wrong, why didn't you make a new Dark Warrior to take Nick's place?"

'**And what would you have had us do with Nick?' **The Crystal asked with a bitter tone that did not sound like it had moments before, it was as if it was speaking with a different voice completely. **'Would you have had us cast him out to live a life devoid of the Fate he was intended for? "Sorry, we failed you so now you don't get to do what you were born to do?" Whatever you might imagine we are capable of, we are not that cruel.'**

* * *

Nick had daydreamed about saving the world on occasion, and hearing that the world was literally in his hands made Nick smile unconsciously though it didn't go very wide. In his head he was already crushing goblins with a spoon and then force-feeding them cough syrup that was on fire. He was so happy with this idea that he didn't even notice that the others were talking about other things that probably weren't important. He had caught the stuff earlier about Jaeger being gifted with a dead spirit and that stuff about a judge and a Djinn, but that was about it.

Suddenly, it occured to Nick that everyone was looking at him.

"What?" Nick asked, but no one seemed willing to tell him what was going on.

"Are you...are you okay Nick? You...and Jaeger don't look that good." Kyle said weakly to Nick, and Nick realized that he did feel kind of sick.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I do feel kind of off..." Nick began, but then he smiled and scratched the back of his head. "But I also feel better than ever, so that's kind of weird."

'**We thought this might happen.' **The Crystal said in it's usual tone. **'Our power and the spirit we gift to you will take time to work together as one. Until it does there will be a feeling of disorientation and nausea.**'

"So the Stupid Rock made me sick, huh." Nick said as he nodded his head in understanding. "In that case I will call this Stupid Shiny Rock Sickness!" Jaeger and Kyle just looked really sad for some reason, but as Nick looked around he couldn't figure out exactly what they had to be sad about, but then he remembered what the crystal had done to Jaeger and he became rather upset himself.

But before he could say anything, Jeff spoke up.

* * *

"'Fore anehone goes anehwheres," Jeff said as he tried to control his rage and made his accent the worst drawl he could possibly make it. Mistress Mallory was right to think that he made it worse on purpose, he found that it really annoyed people. "I wanna know wha' the poin' of bringin' me and Kyle here was."

'**Nick and Jaeger could not have defeated my guardian alone, and after sensing an intruder I knew there was no way he would not emerge. I was also aware that after using so much energy I may lapse into a state of unawareness and be consumed by the Light. The only reason I summoned you here is because I felt that you three would be able to help Jaeger and Nick survive. You three had the most courage and skill, and you three were also the eldest. I was unaware that the caretaker would not awaken for several hours at the time, because I was barely aware of myself enough to save anyone.**'

"Awright, I'm glad ya brough' all dat up, 'cause I wanted ta talk ta ya 'bout it," Jeff said as he clenched his fists. "Why t'hell did ya pick a little girl and an idgit to be two o' yer chosen warriors!?" Kyle flinched in Jeff's perephial vision, but Jeff ignored him and continued.

"Yer sayin' they ain't ready fer this, and yer right, they ain't!" Jeff pointed towards Nick and Jaeger. "One of 'em's a 'tard that's more likely to kill hisself wit 'is own sword," Kyle had flinched again, and Jeff figured that Kyle probably thought that it wasn't right to call Nick that considering what they had just learned. Jeff kind of agreed, but for the moment he was trying to make a point. "And t'other's a girl that ain't ready to grow up yet and don't want nothin' ta do with your darkness," The more Jeff talked the more upset he got, and the more upset he got the more 'mistakes' he made in his drawl, but he continued on in the drawl despite how much harder it was to speak. "Yer tellin' me ya couldn'a picked from grown-ups wit a bit of darkness in 'em?! Me an' Ashley c'n take dere places if ya insist upon having yer Dark Warriors or whatevah, but leav' dem kids outta dis! Dey ain't ready!" As he concluded he stared defiantly at the crystal in silence and awaited its judgment, but he had the feeling he already knew what it would say.

'**Your caretaker was not meant to be a part of this, and neither were you, Ranger,' **The crystal said slowly.** 'Both of you are beings with pure Light in your hearts, the Light of Courage. You could not be a Dark Warrior, and the Light has no need for a Warrior at this time.' **

"Courage?" Kyle asked as he looked up at Jeff with what Jeff considered a new perspective. Jaeger looked at him wistfully and maybe enviously whereas Nick was looking at him with a slight grin, which from Nick could mean anything.

Jeff himself didn't know what to think about the crystals claim that he was a being with pure light in his heart, because not even ten minutes ago he'd extended the finger at the stupid thing. Taking that fact into account, Jeff decided that Nick was completely right about the crystal. "You got the wrong guy." He said finally and plainly by accident.

'**You stood up to Stark, whom you believed wrongly at the time was a monster, though understandably, and you told him to take you and no one else without a second's hesitation. That is the Light of Courage, and for the moment it shines brighter in you than anything else.**'

"Wait, so who's gonna be the Courage of Darkness guy?" Nick asked suddenly.

"**No one. Courage is an aspect of the Light, as Justice is an aspect of Darkness**." The Crystal explained. "**But there is no more time for explanations. The Dark Warriors must depart and find the other Warriors. Behind me is a teleportation field. Use it and you shall arrive near the town of Ur**."

The four children stared at each other, and then turned around to find that Ashley had already disappeared.

'**I sent her to be with the children in the abandoned town of Ur. They are safe and you will be among them again soon. I'd have sent you away too, but I must not waste any more energy...and because I wish to know one thing.**' The crystal added sadly. '**Why are you so angry at me? I know that many of you are upset with me, but I can truly do nothing more to help the world, or I would. You must believe that.**'

Jeff turned towards Jaeger, who had not spoken in a long time. She had fought and struggled against becoming a Dark Warrior and against Nick joining her, and now she looked defeated and withdrawn. Jeff turned to Nick and then Kyle. Nick just nodded his head the same as Kyle. It was weird to think of Nick any differently than Jeff had always thought of him. He'd always figured Nick had problems, and now Jeff just knew what the name of that problem was, but it was just weird to see Nick being able to understand him with only a glance, as he had in some cases in the past...if that was any indication that what Jeff was about to say was right, then that was all he needed.

Finally, all of the boys stepped forward and stared up at the crystal accusingly.

"You said that you are supposed to be one of the things that keeps the balance between the Darkness and the Light in check," Kyle said with his arms folded.

"But now you done such a bad job, that you've picked a buncha kids to go get themselves killed." Jeff added without making his accent worse on purpose.

"I like the fact that you picked _me_ at least, but let's not forget that you're a very Stupid Rock," Nick continued, "But that's not the reason we all hate you, I think."

There were a lot of reasons that they didn't like the crystal; but as Jeff, Kyle, and Nick shared a quick glance they all knew intuitively that they were on the same page about the most important one of all.

"You knew that the Darkness in Jaeger wasn't harmful and that it was a good thing, but you didn't come down and tell_ her _that." Jeff said firmly.

"Instead you floated there and let her think that she would never be allowed to touch anyone ever again." Nick said, having continued from where Jeff left off. "You didn't just make her cry."

"You _let_ her cry." Kyle finished. "Do we really need a better reason than that?"

The crystal did not respond, but instead floated up and down in shock, or so Jeff assumed it was in shock. Either that or it just didn't have any good retort. Jaeger had blinked when she heard their reason, and she whispered a small 'thank you' to the three of them, but that was the only thing that she said before she walked away.

Jeff went down the steps to find his pocketknife and then Kyle said that he saw it jammed into the stone wall over the precipice. Jeff took one last look at it and then turned and went with the rest towards the back of the cave and the teleportation field.

"One last thin'." Jeff said before he stepped onto the field. "You should find a different way to pick yer warriors, if you eva gotta do this again." The Crystal made no response as he stepped onto the field and vanished.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: A Land Trapped in Pre-Dawn's Light

Kyle's mouth dropped in horror when he saw the dark, barren, and cold land that they had just teleported to. As far as the eye could see there was no vegetation in sight of any kind. There was no grass on the ground, no weeds or bushes and all the trees nearby had no leaves or were even broken in half. There were no birds or squirrels or even any monsters in sight.

'Monster' was a general term for any creature known to attack humans indiscriminately that were said to have spawned from the Darkness. If there weren't any monsters in a bleak place like this then that meant this place must truly be dead...or that something worse was around...

Kyle looked around the valley and couldn't help but wonder why it was so dark here despite the fact that the watery sky was still bright with the tower's light. Kyle soon figured out that the area they were in was surrounded by mountains to both the east and the west. The mountains on the western side must have been blocking the light from the Tower of Owen from reaching the area that they were in, because only the tip of the western mountains and the top half of the Eastern mountains were bathed in light.

That must have been what killed all of the plants here. Without any light from the Tower of Owen to reach this place directly, this area had become a deserted wasteland trapped in a pre-dawn. The light filled the sky and seemed as if it was about to come down upon them, but it would never touch them.

"It's cold," Nick complained as he shivered and started to rub his hands and arms. Without the light from Owen's Tower there was nothing to supply heat to this area. Kyle began to shiver a little and he began to also rub his arms.

"We gotta get out of here," Jeff said as he rubbed where the guardian of the crystal had hit him. "Find some place warm, fix ourselves up."

Kyle scanned the horizon, but in the darkness he couldn't see anything. Turning around, he found a cave mouth that seemed well carved out and welcoming. Symbols of a crystal and the sun, which Kyle had only heard about from elders and stories, and wind were displayed along the edges. This cave obviously led to the Crystals chamber.

Kyle didn't want to go inside, but it was the only visible sign of shelter at the moment, and Nick and Jeff had already started to go inside.

"There's no point to going in there," Jaeger said as she shook her head. "That'll just take us back to the crystal, won't it?"

Jeff stopped and turned around and looked resigned as he walked out of the cave. It probably hadn't occurred to Jeff that the cave would take them right back to where they had just left.

A part of Kyle wanted to go into the cave and get the Crystal to teleport them all to wherever it had sent Ashley, but at this point he knew that was useless. The Crystal hadn't helped them at all in the end and had gone out of its way to make matters worse as far as Kyle could tell. It hadn't helped Jaeger, it had made Nick a Dark Warrior, and now it had stuck them here to freeze to death. Kyle sniffed and rubbed his arms and hands again.

"We have to move on," Jaeger said to Jeff, her skin becoming more pale than it had been inside the cave after her transformation.

"I know." Jeff turned to Nick and grabbed him by the shoulder and led him outside. "C'mon."

"Can't we just wait here till we make a fire or something?" Nick asked as he pulled away and took a step deeper into the cave.

"We don't have anything to make a fire with, Nick." Jeff grabbed Nick's shoulder more firmly as he led him out gently. "We have to make it to that town, Your. Or Yur. Ur?" Jeff shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Ashley'll fix it."

"I hate being cold," Nick said as he shivered, but he followed Jeff outside into the darkness.

"Don't you find the Darkness cold?" Jaeger said suddenly to Nick, the emphasis on the word Darkness was stressed even more than usual.

Nick didn't answer right away, but he finally shook his head.

"No, Darkness is...cool. I can live with that. It's...comfortable." Nick explained. "This darkness isn't alive or comfortable, it's _cold._ I hate it."

Kyle shook his head as he sniffled. He didn't know what to make of that, and he followed Jeff who led the way into the wasteland.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Gerot

Jeff set a hard pace to keep up with, but he was doing it on purpose. They needed to warm up their bodies if they could and needed to get someplace warm. It was killing two birds with one arrow.

Nick, Jaeger, and Kyle had never been outside of the light of the tower in their lives and the trek through this area was taking its toll on them. Jaeger and Nick were pale and it looked like they were both about to pass out from the cold, exhaustion, and the strange sickness that had overcome them. Kyle was in better shape and he was trailing just behind Jeff as the other two lagged behind them in silence.

Jeff remembered how Gyshal had always been cold and wet because of how close it had been to the Sphere's Edge, the name given to the impenetrable wall of water at the edge of the island. Gyshal had been just barely far enough past the tip of the far western mountains to still get the light from the Tower of Owen, but it had been so far away that very little heat reached them and crops and plants died without sources of heat or magic. One of the many reasons Jeff had eventually been sent back to the orphanage he had come from, against his and his adopted families' desires, was because Gyshal was 'no place to raise a child' in this bleak time.

Jeff snorted angrily as he picked up the pace. When he was old enough, he'd already decided he'd go back and live with them on his own terms, and he would like to see anyone, or anything, try to stop him.

* * *

Jaeger felt like she was about to throw up. Jeff was walking way too fast and she still felt nauseous from everything that had happened in the past hour or two, but it was Kyle that broke first and bent down and grabbed his knees to steady himself while he took in deep breaths.

"Jeff," Kyle said as he fought to breath in air and talk at the same time. "Hold up......you're leaving us...behind."

Jeff stopped and looked back at them and Jaeger took the opportunity to sit down, Nick followed her lead as he plopped down and crossed his legs. Jeff shook his head as he sat down as well.

"We haven't even been walking for seven minutes. The pace ain't that bad is it?" Jeff asked.

"It's killing me," Kyle said, his breaths becoming less heavy. "And I can't even imagine what Nick and Jaeger are going through, lugging around that armor as sick as they are."

Kyle seemed to realize that Jaeger and Nick had probably heard him and he turned towards them, but Jaeger averted her eyes trying to make it look like she hadn't heard a thing.

As it was Jaeger hadn't even thought about how heavy the armor should have been and how it should have slowed her down. It didn't weigh any differently than her clothes had weighed.

Jaeger glanced down at her armor for a few moments and then looked around at everyone else to make sure they weren't looking. Kyle and Jeff were resting and looking out towards the valley they had to cross, but Nick was trying to rub two sticks together probably in the hopes of starting a fire.

Nobody was looking, but she decided it would be best to remove her boot for this test. She reached down grabbed the boot and tugged and was not very surprised that when her boot left her body it turned back into her old shoe. Jaeger wasn't sure what was going on, but perhaps the Darkness was simply transforming her clothes into something more useful. Or perhaps it didn't actually transform and simply made it look like it was transformed.

"Good idea!" Nick's high pitch voice rang out, scaring Jaeger and making her drop her shoe and grab for the dagger at her side. But there was no danger and Nick was just looking at Jaeger's boot.

"What's a good idea?" Jaeger asked as she started to put the shoe back on, and watched it turn back into a boot. Instead of answering Nick reached for his red cape and shirt which turned back into the blue shirt after he removed it. He then placed it on top of the sticks and started rubbing faster. "What are you doing Nick?" Jaeger asked, though she already felt she knew the answer.

"I'm using my shirt as kindling!" Nick explained as he sat on the ground with his upper body exposed and attempting to set his shirt aflame.

"No Nick," Jaeger said as she reached over and pulled his shirt out from between the sticks. "You need this."

"For what?" Nick asked, honestly confused about what the problem was.

"It's to keep you warm," Jaeger explained as she opened it and went to put it on over his head.

"A fire will keep me warmer," Nick countered as he lifted his arms and let her throw it over his head. He finished putting the shirt back on, despite how sulky he looked while he did.

Jaeger watched as his shirt transformed again and then she shook her head in resignation. How could they go to Ur and meet with Ashley and the other children dressed like this? How could they ever hide how abnormal they had become when no matter what they wore, what disguise they might put on, they would always look like a Red Mage and a Dark Knight?

And that wasn't even counting how they would react when they found out about how they were the Dark Warriors.

"Guys, I see a light!" Kyle shouted suddenly as he got to his feet. Jaeger turned and saw that a very faint light could be seen in the distance. She couldn't tell at this distance but it seemed like a man was holding the light source.

Already Kyle had started to sprint towards the man followed by Jeff, who was yelling for Kyle to slow down and that it could be a monster. Jaeger got to her feet, but as she did she also wanted to run the other way. What was she going to do?

"C'mon! Maybe that guy has a fire or a blanket or something!" Nick said as he tugged on Jaeger's arm and forced her to rush towards the figure as well.

* * *

"Hey!" Kyle yelled as he tried to get the man or woman's attention out in the darkness. The light shinning in this dark valley had given Kyle his second wind and he used it to scream and run towards the figure.

After his initial burst of energy he soon tired out however and was forced to grab his knees and take deep breaths again, the cold air stinging his lungs with each breath.

"You slime-brained idgit!" Jeff shouted and suddenly Kyle felt a sharp pain to the back of his head. "That thing could be a monster! Like Firt!"

Kyle stiffened as he considered the idea. Firt had been a guardian monster of the Light...why couldn't other monsters use the Light as well?

"Hello?" An elderly voice could barely be heard from the distance as it was rushing forward to meet them.

"Oh swell," Jeff said as he reached for his pocketknife that wasn't there anymore, but that didn't stop Kyle from hiding behind him. Jeff, even weaponless, had fought monsters before. Kyle, on the other hand, had used all of his bravery when he had stabbed Firt in the foot earlier. He never wanted to have to do something like that ever again.

When Nick ran past them dragging Jaeger along however, Jeff chased after them telling them to stop. Kyle watched after them silently for a few moments and then groaned and chased after Jeff reluctantly. He was not about to be left here all alone.

* * *

Jaeger heard Jeff's cries to stop and she pulled free of Nick making Nick stop of his own accord, but at this point the man was in sight. It was an elderly man who did not appear to be well fed, who was carrying a crystal of light in front of him that looked a lot like Ashley's. He had a bushy gray moustache and he was balding in the front center of his head. He was wearing a woolen shirt and pants that were probably keeping him much warmer than their own clothing. Jeff came to a stop next to Nick and Jaeger and after studying the man he waited beside them patiently with Kyle soon hiding behind all three of them.

As the elderly man got closer he slowed down and raised his light crystal higher into the air, and he inspected all of them in turn.

"Are any of your names Jeff or Jaeger?" The old man asked to Jaeger's surprise, and after a quick glance at Jeff she could tell she wasn't the only one.

"Ma name is Jeff," Jeff said slowly, choosing to drawl his words apparently. "But who are ya and how do you know ma name?"

"My name is Gerot," the man said introducing himself, and then he lowered the crystal as he seemed to be searching for a way to answer the last question. "And I was sent by the Crystal of the Wind to bring you to the town of Ur, where the other children from your orphanage are," he said finally.

"The Crystal?" Jaeger asked in surprise, and it was echoed by the others, except for Nick who once again tried to correct Gerot on the Crystals 'proper' name before Jeff put a hand in front of his mouth.

"I know, I admit it sounds insane," Gerot said as he looked between Jaeger and the rest of them. "But then again, so are four orphans trudging through a lightless wasteland like this, according to my son who went search for you when the first group of orphans arrived out of thin air and insisted someone search. I didn't come out myself till your caretaker, Ashley?" Jaeger nodded and Gerot continued his confusing rant, "Yes I didn't come here till her crystal spoke to me and told me you would need a guide to my village."

Jaeger smiled. The Crystal hadn't abandoned them completely. Even when it couldn't help them directly it could still send help for them when they needed it. Jaeger felt as if some of the weight that she had been forced to carry recently had been lifted off of her and it wasn't as heavy anymore.

"But can you tell me why you kids were sent out here and not into our town, and why you're wearing those costumes?" Gerot asked and Jaeger froze. This was the moment she had feared. Should she lie and say that she was wearing a costume? That would work for the best.

"What costumes?" Nick asked as he glanced down at his transformed clothes. "You mean this? We got this when the Stupid Rock turned us into the Dark Warriors."


	15. Chapter 14

(Note: As of this chapter, Jeff's accent when speaking normally has been re-written to appear as normal dialogue to make it easier to read. This has been retroactively redone and the chapters before have been edited to fit this trend)

* * *

Chapter 14: Confined in the struggling town, Ur.

"Ow!" Nick shouted, grabbing Jaeger's attention as she spun from her spot on the stool by the window. "What was that for?!"

"You got us thrown in prison!" Kyle shouted as he gestured to their surroundings in a wide arc with his arms. Except for the window, they were in an almost barren room. Outside the window the watery sky was still lit up and that provided a little light for them, but mostly the light in the room was provided by one small crystal that was sitting on a table, which had only been added after they had been put in here, and there was a single bed that had slightly moldy rags.

"They just put us in time-out," Nick argued as he rolled his eyes. "We'll just settle everything with grumpy later."

Jaeger stopped listening to the two because their bickering wasn't going to help them get out of their situation. She wasn't sure who 'grumpy' was supposed to be at this point; it was either Ashley or Gerot, who had turned out to be the mayor of Ur. Their meeting had not gone well:

_"The Dark Warriors are nothing to joke about," Gerot said. His face had fallen as soon as the Dark Warriors were brought up._

_"Who's joking?" Nick asked, but Kyle hit him and Jeff kicked him in the shin. "Owww."_

_"I don't know what game you were all playing," Gerot said firmly. "But it's over now."_

_"I wasn't playing," Nick began, but he stopped when Gerot started to walk towards them in a less than friendly manner._

Gerot hadn't attacked or hurt them in any way, but he had begun to preach angrily to them about the evils of Darkness and how those warriors were from the Gulgan's Prophecy of Doom. The final prophecy that their race was able to deliver thirteen years ago, before they lost their minds and went into comas. It had been a terrible prediction about the end of the world and how the Dark Warriors were going to come and combat the forces of Light.

Gerot had rambled about this for fifteen minutes while they froze before he remembered that the goblins, who apparently continued to live in the eastern mountains somehow, could have seen the light he was carrying and attacked them at any moment.

After that the old man had led them towards Ur, which had a make-shift fence to protect the town from goblin raids. Inside there was not much to see and there was no one going about their daily lives in the streets. There were no children playing, no gossipers, nobody trying to sell wares or make a living. The village felt more like a ghost town than anything, but a few of the homes had lights in them, and that meant that some people were trying to still live in this place.

While Gerot was leading them through town, Jaeger had seen inside the window of one of the homes and she noted that it was filled with plants rather than any sort of furniture. When she had asked about it Gerot had told her to be quiet, and then he had rambled the rest of the way to his house on how they used the crystals to channel heat and light enough to grow a few crops. After he had gotten them to his house he had thrown them in here shortly afterwards and had locked the door.

Jaeger sighed as she shook her head and turned away from the window. Nick and Kyle were still arguing and Jeff was lying on the bed with his eyes closed. Looking around the room for something else to do except stare out of the window, her eyes eventually came to rest on the crystal and its light.

For decades these crystals had been used by the Cetra and every race to provide the power for everything. They lit homes, powered airships and paddleboats, and now provided the light and heat needed for survival in a land as dreary and uninhabitable as this.

But even with the crystals' help, Jaeger could not understand what would make people want to live in a place like this for 12 years. It was a cold, dark, depressing place.

And for the first time, as Jaeger stared into the crystal...she thought she saw something move.

* * *

"Nick," Kyle explained slowly. "You can not go around telling the world that you are a Dark Warrior."

"Why not? It's true isn't it?" Nick asked as he scratched his head for a moment.

"The Crystal said you were." Kyle sat down at the foot of the bed and got comfortable before continuing. "But that doesn't mean its actually true, does it? Right, Jeff?"

"I think the clothes they're wearing is proof enough for me," Jeff said without opening his eyes.

"Okay, so maybe they are the Dark Warriors, but does that mean they have to go around telling everyone they meet?" Kyle asked.

"No," Jeff admitted as he scratched his head. "But now that you mention it, its been something I've been thinking about."

"What?" Kyle asked as Jeff sat up and looked between them.

"Now that we're here we need to decide what we're gonna do next," Jeff explained. "Who will stay here with the others, who if anyone will follow the Crystal's plan and go stop that Djinn or whatever is controlling it, or whether or not you two actually intend to go through with this." Jeff pointed a finger at Nick and then Jaeger, who Kyle was surprised to find her staring into the crystal without blinking. "Are you guys really going to do this? Be the Dark Warriors?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Jaeger asked as she sat up form her position on the chair.

"Me and Kyle, neither of us has to go with you on your journey," Jeff pointed out, and Kyle sat up as it dawned on him that Jeff was right. "And honestly I think if we tell Ashley and everyone else what's going on and what the Crystal told us, that they will be able to take care of that Djinn and his master on their own."

Kyle didn't know what Jaeger was thinking, but she looked as if she was considering the idea and even Nick looked like he was thinking about Jeff's proposal.

"But if neither of you goes and then it turns out that only you two could have stopped them," Jeff paused for a moment, took a deep breath and then continued. "Then that flood we just saw will be repeated, only this time it will be the whole sky that cracks, and the whole continent will drown according to the Crystal."

Kyle's moment of jubilation died as his memories of this morning came back to him. The giant wave of water that had destroyed Canaan, that had destroyed his home and might have killed everyone if Hallet didn't...if he hadn't saved all those people. As Kyle thought about it, he wondered how many other cities might have been destroyed by that terrible wave. What parts of the continent were underwater now, Kyle wondered.

"Well, in that case we'd better go with them," Nick said, having already come to what he felt was the obvious conclusion. Jaeger sighed and then went back to staring into the crystal.

"You don't have to make your decision now," Jeff added as he looked between the three. "Just, think about it."

Kyle shook his head and stared down at the floor. A minute ago he had been ready to stay in Ur forever and to just let the grown-ups take care of everything. Now, he didn't know what to do.

* * *

The Prophecy of Doom had foretold that the Dark Warriors would come to combat the forces of the Light, and it was true enough. The only thing that was left out was the fact they would be needed because the Light would be rampaging out of control. Jaeger could understand how everyone could have misunderstood that, but it didn't help her or Nick. How were they supposed to go up to people like this Judge and convince him to listen to them? If he was a Cetra he might even be able to sense the Darkness in them from miles away.

If Jaeger could just convince Ashley about what the Crystal had said then perhaps she could get stop the second flood. But what if that didn't work? Could the fate of the entire continent truly rest on their choices?

Jaeger sighed as she stared into the crystal and waited to see if anything would move in it again, if anything had moved the first time. She half hoped that the Crystal of the Wind would try to talk to her again, but no words were spoken and nothing was moving.

She had been about to give up when she saw a small figure walking towards her in the crystal. Jaeger blinked, but the image only became clearer and closer. She got up from her stool and went to the small table and picked up the crystal to get a better look.

The instant she touched the tiny crystal she felt as if she was touching magma in a volcano. Her senses seemed to spread out for eternity and the room vanished as everything around her became Light. The Light was burning, bright, and crushing; Jaeger couldn't inhale or breathe as eons passed through her and past her as people from all times seemed to make up the white of this cosmos that surrounded her.

Jaeger tried to scream as the Light tried to destroy her. It tried to burn away at every fiber of her being, but she wasn't burning and her body didn't turn to ash. She lifted her arms and set her feet as the waves upon waves of eons tried to consume her and failed.

And then one figure appeared before her for a moment, a blond headed boy with a serious face who was wearing an armor she had never seen before, and then he became one with the other figures burning in the Light that passed her by.

"Duty calls to you," the boy seemed to say quickly as he passed her. "Justice need never fail."

Jaeger didn't know who was talking, but she wished that he had been able to say more, something that would help her survive this trap. But as she searched for the boy again she noticed a small piece of blue Light. It was a tiny shard that stuck out from the rest and didn't pass her and stayed motionless. Jaeger squinted and she saw that the small source of Light was the crystal she had picked up, and it stood there motionless, connecting her to this place.

Jaeger stepped forward, reaching out as the eons tried to burn her flesh away, and grabbed the crystal, and then she clenched her fist and shattered it. The light died with a whimper as its connecting source vanished and then Jaeger found herself standing in darkness.

* * *

"Jaeger?" Kyle asked after a moment as Jaeger touched the crystal and then stopped moving. "Are you okay?"

Jaeger didn't answer and Kyle was starting to get worried, and he wasn't the only one. Jeff sat up and Nick went over to shake Jaeger's shoulder, but before Nick got there the crystal's light died, leaving the children in almost complete darkness except for the almost faint light that came in through the window.

"What happened?" Kyle asked as he blinked his eyes, the sudden loss of the light leaving him unable to see. "What did you do?"

"I," Jaeger began as she looked around in confusion and dropped the crystal. She was breathing heavily as if she was afraid of something. "I don't know. I was burning and eons were...I...I..."

"Take a deep breath," Jeff advised as he stood up in the dark and joined Nick who had already put his hand on her shoulder, or at least that's what Kyle thought he saw now that his eyes were starting to adjust to the light provided by the window.

Jaeger paused for a moment and took a breath and then she turned to look at the Crystal.

"So what happened?" Kyle asked. "Why isn't the crystal working now?"

"I...broke it," Jaeger said after a moment.

"Why?" Nick asked, sounding as confused as Kyle felt.

"It was trying to kill me," Jaeger said as she looked down at the Crystal and then slowly she bent down and then carefully reached down. She took an audibly deep breath, and then picked it up and almost immediately gave a sigh of relief.

"Okay, start at the beginning," Jeff requested as he led Jaeger to the bed to let her sit down and Kyle moved aside so they could all share the room.

* * *

"Has it ever tried to do that before?" Jeff asked after Jaeger finished telling her story, which he was having a hard time understanding.

"No, but then again I've never held a crystal before, of any kind," Jaeger admitted.

"Can it be turned back on?" Nick asked as he shook the crystal to see if it would do anything.

"I don't think so," Jaeger said as she shook her head. "I don't know exactly what I did, but I don't think that crystal will ever be able to light up again."

"Well, it's going to get cold in here again," Jeff said, but as he did the door opened and Gerot came inside with Ashley following him on crutches.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Decision, the Reunion, and the Wardrobe.

"Well children," Gerot began as he scratched the back of his head in an uncomfortable manner. Jaeger was glad that Jeff didn't object to being called a child for once. "Your caretaker is awake and she's told me...uhhh..." Gerot turned back to look at Ashley, who lifted a crutch off the floor to hit the back of his leg. "Well, she's sorted everything out and you are being put into her care for the time being."

"Really?" Kyle asked. While he did, Jaeger quickly snatched the crystal out of Nick's hands and hid it behind herself. "You're just going to let us out of prison just like that?"

"Prison?" Ashley demanded and Gerot blushed. "Is that your idea of keeping them safe? A prison cell? A dark prison cell?"

"I uh, don't know what happened to the light," Gerot protested as his face became redder, which looked odd when set against the rest of his tan-less skin. "I was sure I put a crystal in here, and it wasn't really a prison cell. I mean, I was just keeping them here till I could ummm...speak to my family about a fit punishment for...I mean....."

"Punishment?" Nick asked, while Ashley growled and the old man distanced himself from the reach of her crutches while he looked even more uncomfortable. Jaeger did not want to know what kind of punishment would be deemed 'fit' for people claiming to have anything to do with Darkness.

"Uhm...perhaps it is better that we not dwell on the past," Gerot said and motioned for everyone to stand up, "We should move forwards and leave unpleasant things that only might have been behind us. The sky breaking, children appearing out of nowhere, the Dark Warriors appearing to appear in our midst. I mean, at the time how were we supposed to know that Nick was unsta-"

Gerot stopped talking as Ashley threw her crutch at him and hit him on his arm, causing him to wince in pain. But he had already said enough. Jaeger had a better idea now about why they were being let out.

_Unstable,_ she thought as she stared at Ashley accusingly. _You knew. All this time, you knew there was something wrong with him_.

"I'm taking the children and leaving as soon as possible," Ashley said with disgust entering her tone. "How far away is the next town? Is there one between us and Sasune?"

"Leaving? In your condition?" Gerot shook his head. "You'd never make it to the next town, let alone Sasune with the children. No, I won't hear of it."

"I'm sorry." Ashley paused as she used her crutch, and then backed Gerot into a corner while she stared into his eyes. "At what point did it sound like I was asking for your permission?"

Silence filled the room as Ashley stared Gerot down, and he slowly seemed to shrink into himself as he turned away.

"Right, I suppose I can't keep you here," Gerot rambled as he edged past her and went for the door. "You're welcome to stay of course, to heal your wounds. We harvest year round. More than enough food for everyone. Yes, more than welcome to stay."

"I'd prefer that the door remain open," Ashley said coldly.

"Yes, of course," Gerot laughed. He turned to leave them in the tiny room alone and after he was gone Ashley sighed a breath of relief and motioned for one of them to give her back the crutch she had thrown. Jaeger had moved first, but Kyle had managed to beat her to it and she sat back down.

"Why are you acting so weird?" Nick asked Ashley as she turned back around, and Kyle added, "Why do we have to leave? We just got here!"

After Ashley had both crutches again, she turned around and headed for the door. She glanced outside a few times and then shut the door.

"Weren't you listening to him at all?" Ashley said as she turned back towards the children. "About how he and those villagers were going to 'punish' you? Do you have any idea how much danger you and everyone else are in right now?!"

"Everyone else?" Jaeger thought to herself as a chill went up her spine. "You don't mean..."

"Right now there is nothing to stop the villagers if they suddenly decide to feed you all to the goblins, and if they wanted to they could put everyone who just suddenly appeared out of nowhere into the same category. Jimmy and the others are in just as much danger as you are, thanks to Nick."

"What I do?" Nick asked from behind Jaeger, which made her roll her eyes when she realized he still had no idea.

"You told him that you were the Dark Warriors!" Ashley said quietly while a vein began to throb on her temple. "What were you thinking?! You could have been killed! You could have gotten us all killed! If he wasn't so gullible we'd be dead."

"Gullible?" Jaeger asked while she raised an eyebrow. Now that she thought about it Jaeger wanted to know what Ashley had told Gerot in order to get them out of here. Obviously she had told Gerot about Nick...or had she just been lying about that and she hadn't known? And how had she explained Jaeger's and Nick's armor or everyone's sudden appearance? Is that what she meant when she said he was gullible?

"It means I told him a lot of lies and he believed me because he's stupid." Ashley winced in pain for a moment and then looked Jaeger up and down studying her and the new armor. "Very, very stupid."

It took Jaeger a few moments to realize that Ashley had thought she was asking what the word 'gullible' meant. She opened her mouth to correct this, but by then Ashley had already begun to ask her own questions.

"Now, tell me what happened," Ashley said quietly as she looked at them. "Why we didn't appear with the others. Why you were left in the darkness and I was sent here. Where you got those armors. And tell me the truth, are you really the...Dark Warriors?"

"Well, Jeff and Kyle aren't," Nick answered almost immediately and very loudly, and Jaeger sighed before she finished Nick's sentence for him.

"But we are," she admitted as she held out the now broken crystal towards the caretaker. Ashley stared at the dead crystal for a short time, and then looked up and studied her armor and Nick's clothing.

"You know that I should call him back and have him arrest you," Ashley said. "You know I shouldn't allow you to walk about freely, not when I know what the prophecy says you will grow up to do. I should let you be taken away, before hiding you makes me and the others your accomplices in the eyes of the people." Ashley sighed as she leaned on her crutch. "Those are the things I should do, but I can't. I won't. I'm finally going to listen to the crystal," Ashley said sadly. "I'm not going to pretend I never heard anything it said to me."

"The crystal spoke to you?" Nick asked as he cocked his head to the side. "When?"

Ashley didn't answer at first and for the first time she looked small and insecure to Jaeger. She took out her crystal and stared into it deeply before she turned back to them.

"Weeks ago," Ashley admitted. She put her crystal on the bed and looked at it shine brightly. Jaeger edged away from it as best she could to avoid touching it. "It told me to gather all of you, and everyone in Canaan and to get them out of town. It told me that a flood, that _the_ flood of prophecy was coming. It told me that the Dark Warriors were the world's only hope." The knuckles of her hand gripping her crutch were turning white.

"It told you weeks ago? " Kyle asked.

Nick soon added, "If you knew about this weeks ago, then why didn't you do anything about it?"

"Be quiet," Jaeger said to them, as Jeff sat with his hands behind his head and said nothing. He hadn't said anything since Ashley and Gerot had entered the room, in fact, which was a little surprising. Jaeger turned back and watched Ashley wobble on her crutch as she stared down at the crystal that she had carried. "You didn't believe it was true, did you?"

"I didn't want to believe it. I convinced myself some creature of Darkness had gotten its hands on a communication crystal and was trying to lure everyone out of town," Ashley said as she shook her head. "A part of me knew that it was the Crystal of the Wind talking to me...but I thought...I told myself it was just part of the ruse.

"It kept trying to convince me to leave, it even begged me once, but when it did that I simply contemplated throwing away the crystal, and the voice stopped calling me before I did." Ashley shook her head again. "If I had listened to the Crystal, no one would have had to die."

"Why didn't you throw the crystal away, though?" Nick asked. Ashley looked up at him and then back down towards the crystal. Though she was staring towards it, she was not looking at it and her eyes appeared unfocused. After awhile the silence became awkward and uncomfortable, or at least to Jaeger it was, and she decided to change the subject.

"We're not sure if everyone is dead yet," Jaeger said as she walked over and put a comforting hand on Ashley's arm and smiled. "Hallet might have been able to teleport everyone to safety."

"Yes," Ashley said, as she smiled very strangely, and she sounded so sad as she agreed with Jaeger that she felt her own smile crumble. "Hallet might have been able to save everyone. Of course he could." Jaeger sighed as she realized how childish her belief that Hallet could have saved everyone truly was...

Everyone jumped as the door opened and Gerot, who was carrying a small bundle of some kind, entered with a younger man with black hair and even paler skin.

* * *

"Hello," Gerot said, as he tried to hand the bundle to Ashley, and when she couldn't take it he awkwardly put them on the bed. Jeff kept his mouth shut, like he had been trying to do ever since Gerot and Ashley had entered the room. The last thing they needed right now was for him to annoy everyone without meaning to, and the younger man looked as if he was already upset over something. "We weren't sure if you were still ah, in here."

"What were you talking about?" the young man asked as he stared between Nick and Jaeger. The younger man had black hair and was about six feet tall, but other than that he looked like a younger version of Gerot. As the son studied their armor he began to rub his chin and pace about the room.

"Not that it's any of your concern," Ashley replied after a moment as she kept her eyes on the two men, "but we were discussing how long it would be till we left."

"You can leave tomorrow if you wish," Gerot said as he coughed and looked at the ceiling. "But we've decided that you can't possibly leave without an escort, in your condition at least," he added a little late.

"I don't want anyone's help," Ashley began but Gerot was already shaking his head furiously and raising his hands placatingly.

"After all you and those kids have been through? My wife wouldn't even let me dream of it," he argued as his son stopped pacing and started nodding his head along with his dad. "No, you'll stay the night and join us for dinner. We'll have all the food you'll need to make it to Sasune prepared and my son has agreed to guide you."

Jeff didn't like the idea of staying another night, and he didn't need Ashley to tell him that this could be a trick of some kind. But at the moment he didn't see what they could do or what the trap was. They couldn't leave without food or the others.

"Now, why don't you go get changed and meet us in the dining room," Gerot said. He gestured to the pile of clothes he had brought, and then he left the room with his son following him. The younger man looked at Jaeger and Nick one last time before he shut the door with a frown.

"All in favor of making a run for it, say I." Kyle said after the door shut again. "I."

"I," everyone except for Ashley said at the same time. It was weird for Jeff to hear everyone agree, even after everything that had happened and changed in the last few hours.

"We don't need to make a run for it," Ashley said. "Not as long as we're _careful,_. Besides, we wouldn't get very far if we did."

"I don't think it will be that easy," Jaeger said as she reached for the bundle suddenly and threw the clothes about. The bundle was filled with normal brown wool pants and sweaters that were too big for them, but would fit over their normal clothes for the most part, and there were socks and gloves as well. She grabbed one of the wool gloves in the pile and suddenly threw it on. The moment that she put it on, the glove was transformed into a dark blue and black gauntlet. Jeff could feel his mouth hanging open after that, and he shut it again after a moment.

"He told us to get changed for dinner," Jaeger said. "But neither me or Nick will be able to do that."

"Well..." Ashley began after she recovered from the surprise. She looked to be in deep thought as she considered what they had to do. "We'll tell them that you didn't want to get out of the armor you found. It kept you safe in the wilds."

"You really think he's going to believe that?" Jeff asked as he raised an eyebrow and snorted. "What kind of a pinhead do ya think he is?!"

"I don't know if he'll believe it, but at this point we can't afford to make a run for it!" Ashley said through grit teeth. "We'll just have to find a lie he'll believe."

"How about the clothes didn't fit?" Nick said as he picked up a wool sweater and held it up in front of himself. "Actually....now that I look at it they are kind of big."

"You're all allergic to wool," Ashley said finally.

"All of us?" Jeff asked. "That's just stupid."

"At this point," Ashley said as she looked defeated, "anything we try to tell them will sound stupid."

"Then why don't we run away?" Kyle asked. "Or just not go to the dinner?"

Jeff and everyone looked at Kyle so suddenly that he jumped a little.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want a different room?" Gerot asked while everyone except Ashley and Jeff hid underneath the covers and pretended to be asleep. Jaeger kept one eye open very slightly though so that she could watch everything happen. Jeff was wearing the wool clothes over his own and was giving the impression like he was going to bed on the floor, while Ashley was standing near the door with the aid of her crutches.

"They said they were already settled here, in your little 'prison'," Ashley said as she nodded her head toward her crystal that she had put on the stand to let it provide light for the room. "Besides, most of them are already asleep."

"Well, all right," he said as he looked at Jaeger and the others perturbed. "I'll bring them their food in case they wake up later. But you wouldn't mind-"

"Of course I wouldn't mind joining you and your family myself," Ashley interrupted. "And the others will probably be just as happy, but these kids have been through too much. We should just let them rest." Ashley exited the room.

Gerot looked around unhappily and then he took a step towards the bed as if to throw off the blanket, and stopped, turned around and left.

"Well," the mayor said slowly. "You won't object to having breakfast with us tomorrow would you?"

Ashley didn't answer him before the door was shut, and Jaeger sat up and sighed. It was only a matter of time before Gerot pressed the issue and his suspicions.

"Well, now what?" Kyle asked. "We can't avoid him tomorrow. He and who knows how many other people might come to see us off."

"I don't suppose we can all go outside wrapped in his sheets?" Jaeger asked rhetorically.

"That seems like a great idea to me," Nick said. "I mean, it'll be really cold out there anyways."

Kyle sighed as he stared at the door. "We can't wear his sheets to breakfast. Can't you guys just turn off your clothes or whatever?"

"I don't know, can we?" Nick asked.

"It would certainly help," Jaeger said as she put her hand to her chin. "But I don't even know where we'd begin."

"Great. So the Crystal sends us to a place that might kill us for looking like the Dark Warriors, and then makes it so that you can't stop looking like them," Jeff said angrily.

"The more I hear about the Crystals, the more I think that we should just forget about them and let everyone else take care of the Djinn," Kyle said bitterly and then looked at Nick and Jaeger. "Really, if we can't even walk into a small village, how are we ever going to get into Sasune or anywhere near that Judge looking like this?"

"Well, we have to try," Nick argued. "Or at least I will. You guys don't have to come if you don't want, though."

Jaeger was silent for a short time as she listened to Kyle and Nick argue, and honestly she agreed with Kyle. They would be killed at the city gates long before they got anywhere near the judge. And it wasn't impossible for ordinary people to stand against a Djinn, or at least so the stories always said.

But as Jaeger sat in the bed, she turned and looked at Ashley's crystal as it spread light over the room, and she remembered what had happened an hour ago. How she had picked up the crystal and how the Light had tried to destroy her. It had tried to consume her, and it had failed. Could Jeff have survived without the power of Darkness to shield him? Could Kyle have? For that matter...who else had ever seen the Light like that? Had anyone else ever been attacked like that, and if they had, then why had she never heard of it? Could it be...

"I'm going," Jaeger said out loud without thinking, and Kyle turned towards her in shock. Jeff sat up from his position on the floor to get a better look at her.

"Why? That's just insane, we'd be killed at the city gates," Kyle said, trying to make her understand that she wouldn't make a difference even if she went.

"Probably," Jaeger admitted. "But the Crystal told us to go there and stop the Djinn. And it told us to stop the Light. You didn't see what I saw when I touched that crystal," she said as she took it out from underneath the covers and showed it to them.

Kyle didn't look as if he believed her, and she hadn't expected him to. She got out of the bed and then gestured towards the crystal on the table, making sure that she didn't touch it herself.

"Pick it up," she told him.

"What?" Kyle asked as he tried to back up into the wall. After she had told him what had happened to her, Jaeger could understand why he would be reluctant to touch the crystal himself.

"It won't hurt you any more than it hurt Ashley. No one else has ever been attacked by a crystal, and if people had, nobody would ever use them. They'd know the truth about the Light," Jaeger explained. "The Light was terrifying. It wanted to kill me, and maybe everything in the world. It has to be stopped, and I think that me, and...maybe Nick are the only people that can stop it. Because I _can_ go to that place where the Light is rampaging. And maybe, that's the only way to stop it.

"And that's why I'm going to go to Sasune," Jaeger explained. "I'm going to listen to the Crystal and stop that Djinn, find the other warriors, and then stop the Light. Because we might be the only ones who can."

Kyle looked at Jaeger blankly as she stood there, gesturing for Kyle to get out of bed and to touch the crystal to prove her point for her. Nick smiled as he got out of Kyle's way and after a moment he sighed and got out of the bed. Kyle joined them as they stood over the crystal, while Jeff watched from the floor with a blank look on his face. Kyle reached out and put his hand over the crystal, but he didn't touch it and let his hand shake nervously.

"Are you sure it won't do anything?" Kyle asked quietly.

"C'mon," Nick said as he grabbed Kyle's hand and pulled it down on top of the crystal. Kyle jumped away from the crystal as quickly as he could and looked around in terror waiting for something to happen, and when nothing did he smiled.

"Nothing happened," he said, but Jaeger shook her head as she stared at Nick, who was standing still with a blank look in his eyes.

"Not to you it didn't," she said as she tried to shake Nick back to reality.

* * *

It was like plummeting into the sun the villagers had always told him about. He felt as if he was one with the universe for a moment, and the room vanished as everything became hot and bright. It tried to crush him and tear him apart, it tried to burn him and blind him. He couldn't breathe as waves of pressure went past him and tried to end his life.

Nick struggled against the Light as he lifted his arms protectively and looked around trying to figure out what was going on. Was this what Jaeger had talked about? This was a thousand times worse than she had made it sound. As the Light passed through him, suddenly a figure appeared in front of him. It was an elderly man who looked at him with contempt.

"A child? You are the cause of the fluctuations and darkness?" the old man snarled as the light intensified its attack. "The Light will consume and destroy you!"

_How did Jaeger escape from this trap again?_ Nick thought to himself as he could feel his body and the Darkness inside struggle against the Light. She had found the crystal that had brought her here and broken it, he was sure. Looking around, Nick couldn't see anything unusual near him. The longer he looked, the more the Light tried to burn him to nothingness.

"Over here," a quiet, timid voice called out to him. As he looked up, Nick saw the small blue light burning in front of him and to the left. It was so small he must have missed it from before.

Nick stepped forward, each step causing the Light to become angrier and attack stronger, but Nick ignored the burning and the Light and reached out to the crystal, and then clenched his fist and slowly the crystal crumbled in his grip. Was this crystal stronger than the other or had it taken Jaeger this long to break hers too?

"Show everyone what you can do," the timid voice said as it grew distant. Nick nodded his head as the crystal shattered into nothingness.

* * *

"He's not snapping out of it!" Jaeger said as she pulled Nick's rigid body away from the crystal, and Jeff had already started to slap him. While Nick's body moved from the blows, he didn't respond or blink. Jaeger looked back at the crystal and considered going in after him, when suddenly the light in the crystal died and Nick gasped out in surprise.

"Nick, are you alright?" Kyle asked as he shook Nick, while they were once again lost in the darkness.

"I'm okay," Nick said as he sat up. "But I think I broke Ashley's crystal." Jaeger sighed in relief. If Nick was worried about Ashley's crystal then he couldn't be that hurt.

"You didn't even touch the crystal and you still went crazy?" Jeff asked as he picked up the now broken communication crystal and sighed. "It's gonna get cold in here tonight."

As a knock sounded on the door, they suddenly all remembered that Gerot was coming to deliver their food, and they had a second broken crystal on their hands.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Truth Behind the Rambling Man.

Jaeger didn't know what to do anymore. She didn't think anyone knew what they were going to do until Kyle jumped into action by leaping onto the bed, throwing the covers over himself, and pretending that he was asleep. Jaeger followed him at first, but at the edge of the bed she stopped. Hadn't she just got through saying that she would do what the Crystal had asked of her? How could she ever expect to do that if she couldn't even face an elderly man?

The crystal that she had broken was lying where she had left it for the most part, undisturbed by Kyle's mad scramble. As she stared into the crystal she could remember vividly the threat of the Light, and the words that boy had shared with her. 'Justice need not fail...'

As she thought about these things she didn't feel afraid anymore, and as Gerot opened the door she picked up her crystal and slowly hid it behind her back. Jeff and Nick had barely moved at all, and the only noticeable difference was that Jeff was holding the other crystal behind himself as well.

The old man was holding a large candle, while his son followed behind him carrying a tray with four small plates on it. When the candle light finally allowed Gerot to get a glimpse at them, he stopped. His son dropped the tray and the plates broke into hundreds of small pieces.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Gerot asked as he took a step back. "What happened to the crystal?!"

Jaeger went and stood beside Jeff and Nick. She felt colder than she had been since first arriving and her stomach was starting to feel a little nauseous, so she was glad that she hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. Jaeger was sure she heard someone yelling from somewhere in the house after the crash, but the commotion had died down and no one was running in to their rescue. She still had the dagger at her side, which Gerot and Ashley had either not noticed or had decided to let her keep for some reason, but she didn't want to have to use it against them. She turned and looked at Nick and Jeff and she was comforted to see no fear in their eyes.

"There comes a time when you gotta grow up, take a stand, and be a man," Jeff said quietly to them as he held out the crystal towards Nick. "It's time to stop running and hiding."

After a few moments, Nick nodded. "I was thinking about it, and that little voice in that Light world told me to show the world what I could do." He reached for the crystal in Jeff's hands and picked it up. "Might as well start now."

"What are you talking about?!" Gerot demanded loudly as his voice trembled in terror. His son looked as if he was ready to attack. "Who are you really?! _**Who?!"**_

"I already told you earlier," Nick said as he raised his crystal into the air. "My name is Nick, and I am a Warrior of the Darkness."

"My name is Jaeger," she added. Her voice was steady and clear as she raised the crystal, and it surprised her how easy what she was about to say had become. Jaeger didn't know why they had raised the crystals, but it had seemed like the right thing to do for some reason. Gerot's already sagging jaw dropped further as he recognized his own crystal in her hand. "I am one of the Dark Warriors as well."

The mayor's face changed from one of horror into an expression of jubilation, but his son leaped towards them aggressively. Jaeger quickly put the crystal into her other hand and drew out the dagger and pointed it at him, while Jeff and Nick fell into defensive stances.

"Hold on Argen! This is it!" Gerot said as he grabbed after his son, who struggled in his grip for a few moments before giving up. "This is what we've been waiting for!" Gerot turned towards her and the others and bowed his head. "I'm sorry for everything that's happened up until now, Warriors of Darkness. My real name is Zuchen, and it is because I know the truth that me and my family have lived here for the past ten years." Argen broke free of his father and began to pace back and forth as he looked at them and began to mutter angrily.

"Your real name?" Jaeger was confused, but she lowered the dagger slowly as she kept watch on the two strange men. "What do you mean that you knew the truth?"

"Wait, I'm confused now," Nick said. "Are you going to try to kill us now or not?"

"No, and I must sincerely apologize again for not helping you sooner," Gerot, or rather Zuchen said. "But we were already wary of you when you first arrived."

"What in the name of the Light are you talking about?!" Kyle yelled from his position on the bed while sitting up. "You were the one who was telling us how evil the Darkness was!"

Zuchen seemed startled by Kyle's sudden movement, but after a moment he nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, and I am sorry for that and everything else I've done. You must have believed you had no friends here because of me, but it was because of your caretaker and the Light that teleported everyone into my home that made me wary of revealing my true allegiance. I believed that Ashley was one of the King's agents that had finally tracked me down."

"An agent?" Jaeger asked. Now that she thought about it, Ashley did seem more like a soldier than a caretaker at an orphanage.

"She appeared suddenly and was unconscious, but I could tell she was an experienced warrior and she was holding a communication crystal, another reason I had to be wary of her even if she wasn't a spy. And you must understand that, from my point of view, that I did not believe you were the Dark Warriors. Either you were just children playing a very dangerous game for yourselves, or, and this is what I truly believed, you were a ploy on your caretakers part to hear me reveal myself through the crystals or once you told her. I was terrified, and I tried to act like I didn't know anything and that I worshipped the Light, just like everyone else."

Argen muttered something under his breath bitterly as he stopped pacing for a moment, and then he continued as he shook his head over and over again as he appeared to argue with himself. Was there something wrong with him too?

"I'm sorry, I can't be making any sense at the moment. I must start at the beginning I suppose if you are to understand why I've done all this. As I told you before, my real name is Zuchen and I lived in the Kingdom of Argus before our continent was surrounded by water. I was a student of Owen's principles, and later I was even one of his many assistants that researched the negative effect that Light was having upon the world.

"You were probably just children at the time, but Owen was imprisoned for insisting that we must soon begin to use the powers of Darkness to balance out the powers of Light that we were utilizing, though the ministry claimed it was for 'seditious libel'." The mayor snorted. "Our research was stolen and the lab was ransacked shortly before the trial, and Owen's colleagues had begun to disappear one after another. Even his son Desch was nowhere to be found, though later I found out it was because he was on another wild girl chase.

"In the end I went to the Gulgan caves for advice, but the Prophecy of Doom had already been spoken before I got anywhere near them. I turned back intending to flee Argus with my family, but my communication crystal spoke to me during my trip. It was the Crystal of the Earth."

"Crystal of the Earth?" Nick interrupted sounding as surprised as Jaeger felt at the mayor's claim. "Was it a Stupid Rock too by any chance?"

Jaeger shook her head. For some reason she doubted that he had heard anything else Zuchen had just said and had only picked out that one part. "Nick, it's not your turn to speak. Try and pay attention, please?" Nick looked at her for a moment but he didn't say anything.

Zuchen seemed uncomfortable and Argen had stopped pacing around the room and appeared even more upset than before. After a few moments the elder shook his head. "A stupid rock? I wouldn't say that it was-"

"Of course it was! Don't you get it yet, dad?!" Argen yelled. "First it got us thrown in prison, then it had us run out of our home, made us have to give up our names and everything, and then," he stopped pacing and gestured towards Nick and herself. "Oh and then, the best part is that the so called Warriors that were supposed to be our hope show up and they're nothing but children!" Silence answered his outburst and after a moment he left the room and slammed the door causing everything in the room to shake a little.

Zuchen turned back to them and sighed. "I'm sorry for that. Life has not been kind to him, and moving to this cold and depressing place did nothing to help him." He coughed once and moved towards the bed and leaned on it. "Where was I?"

"The Crystal of the Earth had spoken to you," Jaeger reminded him.

"Ahh yes, I was surprised to hear it communicate with me as well, and it told me that even if we had followed Owen's plan that it was too late. It claimed that we had abused that power so much that it would grow out of control in a matter of days. It said that I had to tell the Kingdom the truth about the Prophecy and that the Dark Warriors were the only ones that could put an end to it. But..." The mayor stopped talking and hung his head, his face slowly transforming into a painting of misery.

"So why didn't ya?" Jeff asked harshly after a few moments. "Yer voice box turn yellow?"

Jaeger elbowed him lightly out of reflex. Jeff grunted, but he didn't protest except in a few inaudible grumbles to himself, just as he always did when he knew she was right and he had gone over a line.

"No, it wasn't fear that kept me from speaking. I simply couldn't do it. I contemplated throwing away my crystal and ignoring everything it had told me, but not because I was afraid. I would have preferred fear to what occurred next. Something came over me as the Crystal spoke; I heard what the crystal had to say, but the more it spoke the less I believed it. On the contrary, I...I began to doubt Owen's teachings and conclusions as the works of a madman. I was even beginning to believe that he was trying to bring about the ruin of civilization. And then it was like I was possessed, I went to my home as I had intended and then I told my wife that I would go to the Crystal Palace itself if I had to in order to insure Owen's work would not endanger the world. My wife..." Zuchen paused for a moment. "My wife knocked some sense back into me, in the most literal sense of the term. Without her, I don't know what would have happened..."

Jaeger began to rub her hands and elbows uncomfortably. This story was eerily similar to the one that Ashley had told them except that Ashley had not lost control of her mind. The Crystals had both tried to contact Ashley and Zuchen, but for some reason neither of them had done anything that it had suggested.

There was a long awkward pause, but then Jeff cleared his throat. "When she knocked sense into ya, did she happen to use a fryin' pan?"

"No," he replied. "She was kind enough to just use a rolling pin."

The boys shared a short laugh over that, Nick's piercing shriek dying faster than the others, but Jaeger didn't crack so much as a smile. She didn't think that there was anything funny about this.

"Still," the mayor continued. "I prefer that to what was happening to me at the time. I couldn't explain what had happened and I used my crystal to see if I could communicate with it again, but there was nothing but silence and a few people who I disturbed by accident. Still, I wanted to do what the Crystal of the Earth asked, so I went to the castle with my son and told everyone what it had told me. We were arrested for trying to spread a needless panic and blasphemy.

"Blasphemy?" Kyle asked angrily. "How could they think it was _blasphemy_! Couldn't they have just asked the Crystal if what you were saying was true?!"

"Yes, it occurred to me, after my head cleared from both the possession and my wife's tender wake up call, that the Crystal should have been able to give everyone this message on its own. The Priests and Priestesses used to speak with the Crystals regularly before our continent was surrounded by the water, and they claimed that if there was such a warning that they would have been the first to have been told," Zuchen shook his head. "And then something terrible occurred to me. What if they had been possessed as well? What if they had been told and they were simply under the same spell that had controlled me?

"At first, I didn't know for sure, but after all these years I think I found the answer." Zuchen claimed. He stood up and used the candle light to walk over to his broken crystal that Jaeger had dropped and picked it up. "Crystals. The crystals that just produce light, the crystals that provide power for our engines, my communication crystal here, and even the four Elemental Crystals. We intentionally enhance the crystals so that they can channel the power of Light, and we are like moths that are drawn to that flame. People are unable to resist its seductive call and fall under its control. I decided to test my theory, once I got out of prison, by trying to throw away my communication crystal again. Sadly, I was correct; no matter how hard I tried I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. Our people have allowed the Light into our lives, and we cannot escape its influence nor for the moment our dependence."

Jaeger turned and moved slowly towards the bed as what he was saying began to fill her with horror. If what he was saying was true, then there would be no end of their enemies. Everyone used crystals to some extent, and if it could warp the user's mind then no one would believe them no matter what proof they might offer to the contrary.

"Wait a second," Jeff argued just as Jaeger was sitting down. "We spoke with the Crystal and we're all right. How come we didn't get possessed?"

"I would assume that would be because you are the Dark Warriors," Zuchen shrugged.

"No," Jaeger stated. "Me and Nick, we are the Dark Warriors. Jeff and Kyle are not."

"What?" the old man asked as he looked about wildly between them. "But, I thought...well there were four of you..."

Jeff crossed his arms. "Sorry to disappoint you, but we ain't got the right stuff."

Zuchen's brow furrowed as he considered the problem. "But, if that's the case then I don't see why you wouldn't be affected...unless I'm wrong...or...perhaps it is because you are children. Yes, you can't have been exposed to very much except for light crystals in an orphanage I would think...and at your age perhaps you wouldn't be as affected as myself or other adults."

"That's great!" Jaeger shouted, and then felt a pang of guilt as everyone went to cover their ears. "Sorry. It's just...if light crystals don't have much of an effect then we may still have a chance. If the entire world was against us, even against their will..." Jaeger trailed off and the conversation died. No one spoke for a short time after that.

"Okay, is it my turn now?" Nick asked loudly, making Jaeger jump a little as she covered her own ears. "In that case, I just have a few quick questions, first: How'd you get out of prison?"

"Oh yes, I owe that to Owen and Desch," Zuchen claimed. "The King and the ministers came to Owen soon after the Sphere's Edge had formed and asked him if there was anything he could do. He told them that he would begin work right away, but only on the condition that his friends and assistants are set free. They agreed in the end, but only if Owen was successful and they also said that we would only be freed if we helped him find a solution. While working on the Tower of Owen and making the necessary changes, Desch had discovered that, while they were going to free most of the others, they had no intention of letting me or my son go after what I had claimed about the Dark Warriors. Desch helped me and my son escape, but we had to leave behind our identities and our lives. My wife was waiting on a boat she had arranged to take us across the basin thanks to that young man letting her in on the plan.

"I didn't know what else to do with my life at that point, since I had to leave everything behind. I spoke with my wife and eventually we came here in search of the Crystal of the Wind to maybe speak with it since the priests at the Earth Palace would recognize me, but a troll has been guarding the cave for the past eleven years and we dared not enter."

"Troll?" Jaeger and the others asked at the same time to the surprise of the mayor.

"Yes, all the priests that used to live here abandoned this forsaken place or died long ago at either the hands of that beast or the goblins." Zuchen explained.

"Did anyone ever see the troll actually kill anyone?" Jaeger asked as she folded her arms angrily.

"Well, no-" Zuchen began, but Jaeger didn't let him finish.

"Then how do you know that it killed anyone?" she asked angrily.

"I, well..."

"How do you know it wasn't a half-troll, or just a guy who looked like a troll?"

"Well, I..."

"In case Ashley or the others didn't tell you, it was a troll-like man that was sent by the Crystal of the Wind that saved our lives! We wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for his sacrifice!" Zuchen and the others were silent after Jaeger's eruption and she took the time to calm down. So much had happened in just one day, this was too much for her to take.

"Okay, is it my turn again?" Nick asked loudly all of a sudden. "Okay, second question: What happened to your crystal you rambled on and on about?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet, ya slime-brain?" Jeff said, and Jaeger wished that she was close enough to hit him for that; instead she made a note to do it later. "It's the crystal that Jaeger broke!"

"Really?" Nick asked.

"Your friend is right," Zuchen explained. "When I went to prison my crystal was sent to my wife, and it was one of the only possessions she couldn't leave behind and brought it with her on the ship. It's why I was afraid Ashley might be listening when I first encountered you."

"Ah, okay." Nick said with a satisfied nod. "Third, why did Ashley say you were stupid for believing her? You said like you were a lab assistant, and you can't be stupid and do that kind of stuff, right?"

"She said that, did she?" Zuchen chuckled. "Well, I can understand why she would think that. She has to be the worst liar that I have ever met and that's saying something. I mean, she told me that the armor you two were wearing was just some goblin armor that you had found out in the wastes."

"Goblin armor?!" Jaeger and the others asked as they looked at the armors.

"Who in their right mind would believe this was goblin armor?!" Kyle asked. He poked the armor on Jaeger's shoulder, and then leapt back as his finger went through the illusion.

"Like I said, she had some right to think I'm daft," the mayor laughed. "Do you have any more questions?"

"Nah," Nick said as he shivered. "I think you just answered everything, except can we go somewhere warmer or get something to eat?"


End file.
